A life Dedicated for “Schwingen”

Jörg Abderhalden, three-time wrestling king and one of only two athletes to have won the wrestling Grand Slam, gave an impressive talk at the Pax “FondsStar” presentation last week, offering personal insights into his career, his successes and the importance of discipline and flexibility in top-class sport.

He is one of the outstanding personalities in the Swiss national sport of wrestling. With three wrestling king titles (Bern 1998, Lucerne 2004, Aarau 2007) and winning the Wrestling Grand Slam, this is a unique achievement that only he and Christian Stucki have accomplished. Jörg Abderhalden can look back on an impressive career. In his presentation, the Toggenburg native described how he met the challenges of top-class sport with discipline, flexibility and a strong environment and how he constantly reinvented himself.

From carpentry apprenticeship to wrestling king

Abderhalden began his career as a young carpenter’s apprentice and became wrestling king at the age of 19, a success that presented him with new challenges. The sudden fame and media attention were unfamiliar, but he learned to deal with the pressure and use the momentum for further success. Injuries, in particular several cruciate ligament ruptures, forced him to take frequent breaks and rethink his approach. But instead of giving up, he developed new training methods, relied on innovative systems such as Syboba to stabilize his core muscles and continuously expanded his training.

Insurance of body parts

The wrestling king takes a rather pragmatic view of body insurance. When asked by thebrokernews whether he had insured certain parts of his body, he said: “No, but you’d have to take a closer look.” As a skilled craftsman, he has accident insurance with Suva, as do most Swiss wrestlers who either work in skilled trades or run a farm. Accordingly, they are covered by occupational or non-occupational accident insurance. Special policies for individual body parts, such as those often taken out by international stars, have hardly played a role in traditional Swiss wrestling to date.

Behind every successful man is a woman who supports him

A central point in Abderhalden’s career was the balance between family, work and sport. As a father with three children and managing director of a carpentry business, he had to be flexible and set priorities. His wife played a key role in this by supporting him and managing many things in the background so that he could concentrate on the essentials.

Strength and mental preparation

His successes were not only based on physical strength, but also on mental preparation and the ability to see defeats as motivation. He described defeats as “milestones of success” and emphasized how important it was to get up again after setbacks and carry on. One example of this was his comeback after serious injuries and winning the Schwingen Grand Slam despite adverse circumstances.

Entrepreneur, sports reporter, Jass referee

In addition to his active career, Abderhalden was involved for 12 years not only as a sports reporter for SRF or as a judge on Samschtig-Jass, but also as an entrepreneur and remained connected to wrestling. He continues to support young talent to this day. His life is an impressive example of how passion, hard work and a stable environment can lead to lasting success – not only in sport, but also in life.

Jörg Abderhalden’s talk is an inspiring story about perseverance, adaptability and the power of will. His experiences provide valuable inspiration for anyone who wants to achieve great things in sport or work and show that the path to the summit always requires discipline, flexibility and a strong environment.

Read your article about the new “FondsStar” from Pax in the same place tomorrow.

Binci Heeb

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