Simone honoured by the President

Simone honoured by the President

Simone Niggli is one of the biggest sports names in Switzerland. The country’s President came to her last competition on the international scene.

In the centre of Baden, 30 kilometres north-west of Zurich, it ended as it very often has ended since 2001 in international orienteering. Simone won, and smiled. With this victory in the final race in this year’s World Cup, she also finished top in the overall standings. Tove Alexandersson was in front before the final, and had a good race, but ended in fourth place. After Simone won, the Swede had to be second in the race to still be in front overall.

Simone won the World Cup overall for the ninth time. “I felt tired at the start, but soon it felt better”, she says. In front of a couple of thousand spectators it was again a terrific race. At the prize-giving she received one more gold medal from Ueli Maurer, President of Switzerland. He made a speech in her honour; “she is a person to look up to for both young and old”, he said.