The 34-year old, who weighs in at 140 kg and comes from near Bern, had to fight for his title at the Federal Wrestling and Alpine Games Festival, or SchwingfestExternal link, in Zug, central Switzerland.
He won over his opponent, the 22-year-old newcomer Joel Wicki, from central Switzerland, in around 40 seconds in the final bout of wrestling on Sunday afternoon. Watch what happened in the Tweet below (commentary in Swiss German).
“I can’t quite believe it,” said the visibly moved Stucki on Swiss national television SRF. “But it’s of course wonderful”.
It’s not the first time the experienced Stucki has been in a federal wrestling festival final: in 2013 he lost out to Matthias Sempach. At 34 years old, he is, however, the oldest ‘king’ so far.
Stucki celebrates before the crowds, thousands came to watch on Sunday
Keystone / Ennio Leanza
The ‘king’ also receives a bull as the main prize. The best 15% of the wrestlers receive a wreath and a special title: “Eidgenoss” or “Confederate”.
Christian Stucki (left) with his prize, congratulated by Swiss President Ueli Maurer (right)
Keystone / Ennio Leanza
Tradition
The traditional festival dates back to the end of the 19th century and is held once every three years. It’s a major date in the Swiss sporting calendar with a high level of media coverage.
Swiss wrestling takes place in a sawdust ring and fighters try to throw opponents onto their backs using each other’s shorts. It’s an eclectic sport largely unknown outside Switzerland. Although there are some foreign participants, like these Americans with Swiss roots.
There are also competitions in other sports, such as boulder throwing and Hornussen (hornets), a team sport that looks a bit like a cross between golf and baseball.
Organisers said they expected more than 400,000 people to attend the three-day festival, which ends on Sunday. This makes it the country’s biggest sporting event.
Real royal
Federal festivals are designed to bring people together. They promote national cohesion and celebrate the Swiss identity, although there has been some discussion in the mediaExternal link of whether they perpetuate Swiss clichés.
This year’s festival also attracted a real royal, in the person of the King of Tonga, invited through a personal connection with a Zug family. The next federal wrestling festival will take place in Pratteln, near Basel, in 2022External link.
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The festival also features other unique Swiss sports – hornussen and stone throwing – as well as the best yodellers, flag-throwers and alphorn players in Switzerland. In August 2007, swissinfo.ch photographer Thomas Kern documented the federal festival held in Aarau. All images : Thomas Kern
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.