The military games in Switzerland are behind us. For the 5th time I had the pleasance of observing the conflict of representatives of the Polish Army at this kind of sporting event. 3 times I accompanied Polish athletes in summertime competitions under the patronage of the global Military Sports Council and now in Switzerland for the second time – at winter games. Although I will remember mainly the successes of the White-Red – they won 5 medals, including 1 gold – it was hard for me to overlook any chaos and organizational failures of the hosts.
For the military winter games Polish representation – and me and her – returned after 12 years. Then the French hosted the struggle. In Annecy and another resorts they organized competitions with large momentum, and on the biathlon magic of the name of the celebrated sergeant. Martin Fourcade attracted hundreds of spectators to the stands. They came to cheer the world's best biathlonist and his colleagues due to the fact that their start was decently publicized. Annecy lived these games. There were quite a few posters in town, flags with the organization logo. Nearly 15,000 spectators watched the beginning ceremony on the shore of the lake. And in the center of the city there were various hymns and beating national flags of players who occupied the leading 3 seats.
So much for history. Unfortunately, Switzerland lacked this atmosphere. The medalist award ceremonies were held on the premises of military units. In those I attended, the medalists' flags were not even drawn. Although I was not allowed to hear Mazurka Dąbrowski in France, in Switzerland the Polish national anthem was played in the club hall of the military unit in Emmen, where the white-red flag could only be seen on the... telebim.
In Lucerne, on the streets of the city center, I could not see any accent about the games. How poorly promoted these games proved the faces of amazed residents, who saw groups of athletes in tracksuits curiously asked what competition they had come to. Like Polka working at a bar at Andermatt railway station, who profoundly regretted knowing nothing about the organization of this rank. “I would love to do ours,” she declared. Although teams from many countries rolled through Andermatt and the train station there to go to the competitions and it was in vain to look for any information, posters or invitations to the games. They were, yes, but only in the units where... sportsmen were accommodated.
It is unusual that the Swiss on the authoritative website of the games invited viewers to the beginning and closing ceremony of the event and to all sports arenas – reserving that they are open to the public and free of charge.
He besides disappointed in the program of beginning and closing ceremonies. In Lucerne both ceremonies were almost identical: the same performers and mostly the same repertoire. Only at the end of the song "Recycling", performed by the brass band from the Central Orchestra of the Swiss Armed Forces, did the hit "We Are the World".
These are faults concerning the luminaire, but there were more serious accidents – straight related to the games. Comparing the games in Annecy and Lucerna, it should be noted that the organizers of both had to cope with the fog that hindered competition. And in this respect, the French were besides better off. Despite their mediocre visibility, they did not cancel the ski course for orientation, they did not even postpone. It was easier for them – unlike the Swiss, which the fog prevented from conducting a snowboard competition. At the time, even at the velocity slides they were much smaller than erstwhile competing on the slope, so the fog did not pose specified a threat to the players. The Swiss, for fear of the safety of athletes, rather rightly cancelled competition. However, they were puzzled that they had not moved them or moved them elsewhere. They had infrastructure for that. In this way, they denied the chance for a medal, among others. Polish bronze medalist of the planet snowboard championship.
Poland's representation ended its rivalry with 5 discs. If individual based only on the authoritative medal table published on the authoritative website of the games, he might be surprised. It was, after the amendments, yet updated only a fewer twelve hours after the last competition, but in vain sought on it 5 medals of the Polish Army representation. There are four, although at medal ceremonies 5 were given to Poles! Unfortunately, silver in the squad classification of the biathlon sprint race women were not considered. Why? Who knows! Not to mention, it took the organizers to pass the squad classification of this run on the authoritative website... A twelve hours!
Athletes returning from large events outside the results besides mention the conditions in which they should compete, but besides live during that time, i.e. accommodation or catering. In particular, in the second regard, it is hard to blame the organizers for failing to meet the task. The dishes were elaborate and exquisitely served. But will this improve the overall impression of preparing Swiss games? I'm not sure.
