Robert Zurbriggen (16 March 1917 – 21 April 1952) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

and

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and shooting sports, rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into sh ...

who competed in the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

. Zurbriggen was born in

Saas-Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

. In 1948 he was leader of the Swiss relay team which finished fifth in the 4x10 km relay competition. At this time he had the military rank of an

Oberleutnant () is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. Austria Germany In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Trans ...

.''Review: Totally 103 medals for Switzerland: Demonstration events''
(German), Tagesanzeiger, February 2, 2006. In the 18 km event he finished 26th. He also participated in the demonstration event,

military patrol Military patrol was a team winter sport in which athletes competed in cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering and rifle shooting. It was usually contested between countries or military units. The military patrol competition encompassed 25 kil ...

(precursor to

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...

). He was leader of the Swiss team, which finished first in the military patrol event (R. Zurbriggen, his brother H. Zurbriggen, Andenmatten, Vouardoux). In 1947 he, Karl Hischier, Karl Bricker and Andenmatten also won the revenge race in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

.''Touristische Entwicklung des Gletscherdorfes: 8. Skiasse im Spiegel der internationalen Sportpresse''
, Saas-Fee. As a mountain guide of a glacier tour he had a fatal accident in 1952.

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References

1917 births 1952 deaths Swiss male cross-country skiers Swiss military patrol (sport) runners Olympic cross-country skiers for Switzerland Olympic biathletes for Switzerland Cross-country skiers at the 1948 Winter Olympics Military patrol competitors at the 1948 Winter Olympics People from Visp (district) Mountaineering deaths Swiss military officers Sport deaths in Switzerland Sportspeople from Valais {{Switzerland-crosscountry-skiing-bio-stub