26.01.2023
Bern Welcome sat down with Martin Rhyner, COO of the IFSC Climbing World Championships 2023, who gives fascinating insights into the organisation of this major sport event.
With the IFSC Climbing & Paraclimbing World Championships 2023 and the EuroGames taking place in Bern this summer, the Swiss capital looks forward to two action-packed events that will certainly help Bern to maintain its status as a sports city. This was reason enough for Bern Welcome to sit down with Martin Rhyner, the COO of the IFSC Climbing World Championships 2023, and Paddy Käser, who is in charge of side events on the EuroGames organising committee, and talk about the events, the preparations and Bern as a venue.
Why, for example, did the IFSC Climbing World Championships 2023 choose Bern as the venue for the event?
Martin Rhyner: The central location in the heart of Switzerland and the proximity to the airports are perfect. I also think that the city of Bern has the ideal size for events. Bern also shows a strong commitment to present itself as a sports city, which is noticeable to us, as organisers, as we receive a lot of support. And last but not least, there is a huge climbing community around Bern, and the SAC [Schweizer Alpen-Club], the national federation of Switzerland, is based in Bern. All this made Bern the perfect venue for us.
And what can you look forward to in the summer?
Martin Rhyner: We have an outdoor village, the so-called “Village of Experience”, which is open to the public free of charge. There, you can get a taste of the sports climbing world during the six final days. However, our highlight is certainly the finals of the sports competitions. It’s nice that Switzerland has some very good athletes and that we can compete for the World Championship medals. Hopefully, there will be a real party in the arena with a great atmosphere.
Besides spreading good vibes and party mood, the COO of the IFSC Climbing World Championships 2023 also has an important message he wants to get out:
Martin Rhyner: It was very important to us [from the beginning] to integrate paraclimbing as well – to show that it is simply sport climbing, no matter on which wall and in which form. And for us, the World Championships are a very important flagship event to develop grassroots sports. We want to make sports climbing accessible to the population at large and to children and send the message that climbing is for everyone. In addition, we want to show how professionally you can do this sport.
Read the full interview (in German) with Martin Rhyner and Paddy Käser here.
Photo: Bern Welcome