Reto Bucher (born September 30, 1982 in Mühlau,

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

) is a retired amateur Swiss Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's middleweight category. He finished fourth in the 74-kg division at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, and later took home a silver medal at the 2007 European Championships in

Varna, Bulgaria Varna ( bg, Варна, ) is the third-largest List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the ...

. Before his wrestling career ended in 2009, Bucher trained as a member of the wrestling team for Ringerstaffel Freiamt in

Aristau Aristau is a municipality in the district of Muri in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History The first traces of human settlement around Aristau are scattered La Tène culture artifacts. The modern municipality of Aristau is made up of ...

, under his personal coach Leonz Küng. A member of the Swiss wrestling squad, Bucher entered the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

as an underdog in the men's 74 kg class, after placing third and receiving a berth from the final Olympic Qualification Tournament in

Tashkent, Uzbekistan Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous ...

. He opened his match by dominating Belarusian wrestler

Aliaksandr Kikiniou Aliaksandr Fiodaravich Kikiniov ( be, Аляксандр Фёдаравіч Кікінёў; born 9 April 1980) is an amateur Belarusian Greco-Roman wrestler, who competes in the men's middleweight category. He won the bronze medal at the 2009 Wor ...

with a 3–2 verdict, and then rallied for a 6–2 score over China's Sai Yinjiya in the prelim pool to move into the next round. Bucher edged past his Kazakh rival

Danil Khalimov Danil Takhirovich Khalimov (russian: Данил Тахирович Халимов; 6 July 1978 – 15 October 2020) was a Russian-Kazakhstani amateur Greco-Roman wrestler of Tatar descent, who competed in the men's middleweight category. Caree ...

in the quarterfinals, before being tamed by eventual silver medalist

Marko Yli-Hannuksela Marko Juhani Yli-Hannuksela (born 21 December 1973 in Ilmajoki) is a Finland, Finnish former wrestling, wrestler. His most notable accomplishments are his two Olympic medals and a world championship in Greco-Roman amateur wrestling, wrestl ...

of Finland at 3–0, leaving him with an ankle injury. Fighting against Russia's Varteres Samurgashev for the bronze medal, Bucher could not endure a pain from his injury and easily lost the match to the Russian due to a 10–0 superiority limit. Bucher lost again to Yli-Hannuksela for the bronze medal in the same division at the

2005 World Wrestling Championships The 2005 World Wrestling Championships were held at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by ...

Budapest, Hungary Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

, until his medal drought culminated with a silver at the European Championships in 2007. He also sought to compete for his second Swiss team at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, but missed out a spot from the Olympic trials. In 2009, Bucher announced his official retirement from the sport because of a right knee injury sustained from the Swiss championships.

References

External links

*
Profile – International Wrestling Database
1982 births Living people People from Muri District Olympic wrestlers for Switzerland Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swiss male sport wrestlers European Wrestling Championships medalists Sportspeople from Aargau 21st-century Swiss people {{Switzerland-wrestling-bio-stub