Record number of Swiss athletes head to winter Olympics

The Swiss Olympic Association has nominated 171 athletes for the PyeongChang Olympic Games in South Korea – a record number for the winter games.  The previous record was 163 athletes – sent to Sochi, Russia, in 2014.  + Why the IOC banned Russia from the Winter Olympics  On Monday, Swiss Olympic announced the final roster for the alpine skiers and snowboarders, who will join their colleagues from disciplines such as bobsleigh, curling, figure skating and ice hockey from February 9-25 in PyeongChang.  Ralph Stöckli, the leader of the mission, has set a target of at least 11 medals – the number that the Swiss team won in Sochi.  However, two Swiss ski boarders are recovering from concussions: Sochi gold medalist Iouri Podladtchikov crashed and broke his nose at the X-Games in Aspen this past weekend, and David Hablützel had an accident at the World Cup in Laax on January 20.  Also on Monday, the Swiss Post released a stamp depicting the PyeongChang ski jump to commemorate the ...