INTERVIEW - «When Jörg lost, they cheered even louder» – What it's like to live with the most successful wrestler

Ms. Abderhalden-Hämmerli, how did you get into wrestling?

I visited many wrestling venues as a child because my father was a Kranzschwinger (wrestler). It all started at birth. I was born on a Saturday, and the next day my father successfully wrestled and brought home a cradle from the Gift Temple. Many years later, at a wrestling competition, Jörg approached me and asked if I was Hans Hämmerli's daughter. That's how we met.

Sounds uncomplicated.

Jörg Abderhalden: It wasn't quite that easy. When we were just a couple, in mid-1998, I won at Stoos as an 18-year-old – a minor sensation. Andrea was attending her brother's confirmation; wrestling festivals weren't broadcast live on television yet. I wanted to talk to Andrea, but like most wrestlers, I didn't have a cell phone. So I looked for someone who did and found Werner Vitali. Three months later, I was standing with him in the final bout at the Federal Wrestling Championships when I became king for the first time. The following year, I got my own cell phone for basic training because I was tired of queuing in front of phone booths.

Ms. Abderhalden-Hämmerli, how many wrestling festivals have you attended?

I don't count them, but there must be over five hundred. I also took the children along and attended the celebrations with the relatives of the other wrestlers. Friendships developed this way; it was like a family reunion. Relationships among wrestling wives lasted even when one man put the other on his back.

It is often said that there were hardly any women at the wrestling festivals back then?

Jörg Abderhalden: People tend to exaggerate that these days. Even back then, almost every wrestler had his girlfriend or wife with him. But yes, the audience has become a bit more urban. These days, wrestlers enjoy greater prestige and are considered cool. I'm glad I met Andrea before my big successes; that's how my career became a shared venture. We worked as a team, from which both of us benefited.

You once said that without Andrea you would not have become Schwinger King three times.

When the environment is right, it's easier to achieve top performances. In addition to my immense effort for wrestling, we built a house, had three children, I trained as a master carpenter, and became the head of a company. If Andrea hadn't covered my back, I wouldn't have been mentally free to wrestle. If the media wanted something from me before a federal competition, she took care of it.

You didn't have a mental coach. Did your wife also take on that role?

I didn't need one; that was my great talent. When I was technically and physically at my best, my head automatically followed suit. In the sawdust ring, you're alone. Either you're the type who can pull it off – or you're not. Someone who always comes second will finish second even if the first one is gone. I hardly saw my wife during a wrestling festival.

Ms. Abderhalden-Hämmerli, what was the most difficult moment as a viewer?

That was in 2009 on the Schwägalp. I had retreated to the hotel next door to look after our baby Jill. Then I heard the spectators cheering outside, and I knew: Jörg had lost. That's what happens when the king suffers a defeat. And when Jörg lost, they cheered even louder. But then the phone rang, and my sister said that Jörg had had an accident. During that fight, his right knee had been completely destroyed. He had only just recovered from other injuries. I drove to the wrestling arena and took him to the hospital in St. Gallen. At first, the spectators couldn't have known that Jörg was seriously injured again, but the fact that some of them celebrated his defeat so exuberantly struck me. I can still hear their cheers today.

Did you learn to deal with such incidents?

At first, it was incredibly stressful for me. Especially when Jörg was a guest in Central Switzerland, the antipathy could reach extreme levels. I felt uncomfortable and took it personally. It hurt me because I knew how much Jörg gave to this sport. Or there were times when our children were teased on the way to school because Jörg had missed out on an important title. Things like that gave me pause. But ultimately, we grew from it.

Jörg Abderhalden: I didn't care what others thought of me. But there were some exciting things to observe: After your first title as king, everyone thinks you're the most beautiful and the greatest, and at some point you believe it. If you then narrowly miss the title of king in the final round of a federal competition, which is also a great achievement, nobody cares about you. In moments like these, you realize who's behind you. And so, the appeal arose for me to not retire despite serious injuries and to continue being the spoilsport for the others. It wasn't until I became king for the third time that I felt respected by many sides.

Does success make you lonely?

If you've had as much success as I have, then sure. Because no one else has had the same experiences. And the Swiss like to help the weaker. But it didn't bother me. I was never so down-to-earth that I sought refuge in the crowd. Eventually, it even annoyed me when the hustle and bustle was so intense that the wrestlers could hardly focus on wrestling.

Your penchant for vacations in the USA is well known. In your biography, you said that you'd like to be a cowboy in the Wild West in your next life. Your father-in-law, Hans Hämmerli, currently lives in Canada. Was emigrating ever a consideration?

Not really. But we enjoy being able to anonymously indulge our thirst for adventure here and there in the vastness of America.

Ms. Abderhalden-Hämmerli, you serve on the St. Gallen Cantonal Council for the FDP. Did wrestling prepare you for politics?

Yes, I never liked being called my husband's manager. But through negotiating with sponsors and interacting with journalists, you learn a lot about dealing with people and the mechanisms of public speaking. Also, that you can't put up with everything and should stand up for your beliefs. You can't learn that with a degree.

Your husband opposed the wrestling association and ensured that an advertising regulation was introduced that allowed wrestlers to earn good money from their sport. Did you go too far back then?

No, but we did push the boundaries. Because we believed that someone who invests so much in their sport should get more in return than just fame and glory. Jörg had missed work because of wrestling, risked his health, and hired a professional athletic trainer, and we wanted to compensate him for that with sponsors. So Jörg was willing to advertise, for example, cheese or spring rolls, if the offer was right.

Mr. Abderhalden, in what areas has your wife had a positive influence on you?

Through her, I've become more diplomatic and decent. I'm a very direct person. If I don't feel like doing something, I say so. If it were up to me, this interview wouldn't take place. (Laughs.) There's also the famous story about when I said publicly that I wouldn't go to the mountain festival on Rigi if there was only one bell to win. That caused quite a stir. I could have made things easier for myself if I hadn't done that. But at least I made a difference. The following year, there were live prizes on Rigi. The wrestlers are grateful to me for that today.

You once said that after your first wreath at the Gift Temple, at your mother's insistence, you chose a spinning wheel. It then gathered dust in the basement, so choosing a price based on emotion made no sense. Did you never consider the women around you?

Once upon a time, there was a wooden table that still looks great in our living room and is a lovely memory. After that, I quickly became so good that I no longer had to go to the gift shop. Instead, I knew what I was getting; there were set live prizes for the best. One of my daughters always hoped that I would win a foal instead of always a bull. When the time came, I took the money anyway. We weren't prepared for larger animals at home.

It was recently announced, surprisingly, that you would be joining the Swiss Ski board as the regional representative for eastern Switzerland. How did that come about?

As parents, we said we'd be most likely to get involved in sports our children were involved in, so ski racing was the obvious choice. The fact that I immediately became the Swiss Ski president was also a coincidence; the constellation was right. And I can afford the time for this position. Ski racers and wrestlers get along well; they're the same people. A motorcycle sponsor once realized this by inviting athletes from both sports on an annual ride. From there, I know the current Swiss Ski president, Urs Lehmann, who often attends wrestling festivals. It remains to be seen what I can achieve in skiing; I had to try on my clothes first. A newcomer who dares to speak his mind might not be a bad idea.

In wrestling, you have never served as an official at such a high level.

Not that, but I've held positions of authority for over twenty years. At just 16, I became the junior wrestling leader at my club in Wattwil. After that, I took on positions at the cantonal level. And if I'd wanted to, I probably could have gone even further. But when the time was right, shortly after retiring from active wrestling, I had just had enough of wrestling.

You, Ms. Abderhalden-Hämmerli, have been the organizing committee president of the Schwägalp-Schwinget since 2023 , which celebrates its 25th anniversary after its revival on Sunday. How are you doing in this role?

Every year, I'm impressed anew by how the arena is built in ten days and how the organizing committee and the approximately 1,000 volunteers work together. I knew roughly what to expect; I had previously worked on the organizing committee for a long time, responsible for advertising and marketing.

As usual, the Schwägalp-Schwinget takes place just two weeks before the Swiss Federal Wrestling Championships, which may prevent top wrestlers from competing in the event for safety reasons. How are you dealing with this?

We naturally accept the wrestlers' season plans. In return, we have an advantage in years when there is no federal festival, because we then organize something like the season's highlight, the next one being in 2027. We can't postpone our festival much, as we have to adapt to the needs of the alpine farming industry.

Jörg Abderhalden, you always competed at Schwägalp, even though there was only a two-week break before the Federal Championships. Did that never bother you?

I understand anyone who doesn't want to take risks at Schwägalp after suffering a serious injury there and subsequently missing the season's highlight; Joel Wicki experienced the same thing once, before he became king. But I had a different attitude: I wanted to maintain my competitive pace and feel whether I was ready for the Federal Championships. If things didn't work out at Schwägalp, it was a wake-up call, like in 2004, when I subsequently became king. Or take 2007: Stefan Fausch and I were in the final round—and both reached the final two weeks later at the Federal Championships. That's why I'm surprised when wrestlers today no longer compete in an important competition in the last month before the Federal Championships.

Schwägalp was your home festival, yet you had to make a surprising number of attempts before you won it for the first time in 2006. Why was that?

If only I knew! For a long time, I couldn't force my competitive luck. When I finally did, the relief wasn't even that great, because I'd already been crowned champion twice by then; that overshadowed everything else. As a wrestler, I wasn't the most emotional type anyway. Where I won didn't matter to me. I was only truly moved once.

When?

2002. I had severely injured my left knee in the spring and still competed in the Kilchberg Schwinget, without a cruciate ligament in that knee and with practically no preparation. It was practically impossible, but I triumphed. And the media wrote that I had been the first to complete the "Schwinger Grand Slam," meaning I had won the three most important festivals at least once: the Federal Schwingen Championship, the Unspunnen, and the Kilchberg Schwingen Championship.

Where do you see potential for improvement in swinging?

When awarding major festivals, resources should be used optimally. For a federal festival, I see places where existing infrastructure can be used rather than those where everything has to be built from scratch. That's why I would have preferred St. Gallen to Mollis for the upcoming federal festival; I would have prioritized practical reasons over the rural idyll. In this respect, too, I'm not the type to be guided by emotions. But the city didn't stand a chance in the vote.

Should wrestling open up additional sources of income and allow more advertising?

I'm more open about this than others. So that, when financial gains remain, the volunteer work can be sufficiently appreciated, especially when it comes to the referees. They should receive more than a Nötli (a small German snack) and a bratwurst for their efforts. This sport can't afford to lose people. The number of wrestlers is manageable and not increasing everywhere.