# Top athletes supported by Swiss Olympic

A map of a former edition of the Atlas of Switzerland, the national atlas published by ETH Zurich. It opens only in the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS, not in the web atlas; see the links below.

- Map: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/top-athletes-supported-by-swiss-olympic/
- Short title: Swiss Olympic: top athletes
- Map id: 519
- Categories: Tourism and Leisure time › Sports federations › Elite sport
- Keywords: Sport, Top-class sports
- Published: 2017-09-19
- Last revised: 2021-06-28
- Content language: English
- Other languages: [Deutsch](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/de/thema/von-swiss-olympic-gefoerderte-spitzensportler.md), [Français](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/fr/theme/athletes-de-haut-niveau-patronnes-par-swiss-olympic.md), [Italiano](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/it/tema/atleti-di-alto-livello-sostenuti-da-swiss-olympic.md)

## Description

*The journey from young talent to competitive athlete*
An athlete’s choice of sport is primarily influenced by his or her inner circle of family and friends. Studies have shown that the parents play a crucial and formative role throughout the entire athletic career. Elite athletes also serve as role models for young people and provide additional motivation. Clubs and national associations are also very central at the institutional level. For young athletes in Switzerland, combining education and sport is of great importance. Nowadays, special training centres enable a better balance of sport and school.
The journey from young talent to competitive athlete is often only feasible with external financial support. The majority of athletes earn a relatively modest income from competitive sport. The median annual salary for professional athletes in 2010 was 25,000 Swiss francs, and only about 25% of athletes receive a monthly salary based on their sport activity. Because of this, approximately 60% of professional athletes combine sport and work. The most important employers in team sports are clubs, and various employers such as sponsors and associations are important in both individual and team sports.

*Swiss Olympic (Talents) Cards*
In Switzerland, athletes are supported especially by Swiss Olympic, the Swiss Sport Aid Foundation and the federal government. Support and funding instruments range from specific services, profit contributions, sponsorships and awards, to the possibility of participating in an elite sport training seminar held by the Swiss Army during compulsory military service. This support is acknowledged in the Swiss Olympic (Talents) Cards. These are registered and awarded annually by Swiss Olympic based on defined allocation guidelines. Continuous selection and increasing sponsorship efforts help talents as they approach the national elite, and subsequently support them on the way to the Olympic Games.
According to Swiss Olympic, young talents are junior athletes who are systematically sponsored and trained for competition by a national association in accordance with its junior sponsorship framework on three sponsorship levels: Local, Regional and National. This systematic sponsorship is characterised by regularity (high training effort), sustainability (integration into a national association’s junior sponsorship framework) and quality (of trainers and selection). These three features define the talents.

## Sources

- Kempf et al. (2015): Das System Sport – in der Schweiz und international. Magglingen: Bundesamt für Sport

## Data sources

- Swiss Olympic Association (2014): [Athletensupport](http://www.swissolympic.ch/Spitzen-Nachwuchssport/Athleten/Athletensupport/Athletenfoerderung)
- swisstopo [J160089] (2010): [Gemeindegrenzen GG25](https://shop.swisstopo.admin.ch/de/products/landscape/boundaries3D)

## Data owners

- [Atlas of Switzerland (AoS)](http://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/)
- [Swiss Olympic](http://www.swissolympic.ch/)
- [Swiss Federal Office for Sports (BASPO)](http://www.baspo.admin.ch/)
- [Swiss Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo)](http://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/)

## Citation

The terms of use ask to name the Atlas of Switzerland and the data owners, and to keep the source references in exports, screenshots and embeds. Cite the map as:

> Atlas of Switzerland (2021): Top athletes supported by Swiss Olympic. ETH Zürich. Map data © AoS, Swiss Olympic, BASPO, swisstopo. https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/top-athletes-supported-by-swiss-olympic/

## Links

- Map page, with the description and sources and a button that opens the map in the desktop atlas: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/top-athletes-supported-by-swiss-olympic/
- Open the map in the desktop atlas (version 4), where it is installed: adsglobe://map/519
- Download of the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/ads4-download/

For the use and citation of maps and data, see the [terms of use](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/terms-of-use/).