BERN, Switzerland (AP) — Switzerland left 44-year-old ski-jumping great Simon Ammann out of a team of 175 athletes picked Monday for theMilan Cortina Olympicsthat includes threedefending champions.
Switzerland Ammann
At the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, he was a double gold medalist whose Harry Potter-like spectacles and boyish charm led to him being astudio guest on David Letterman's late-night show.
Ammann competed at all seven Winter Games since 1998 in Nagano, Japan and also won two gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
An eighth selection would have tied him with theWinter Games recordheld jointly by Japanese ski jumper Noriaki Kasai and German speed skater Claudia Pechstein, according to the history site Olympedia.
Kasai took silverat age 41 in the large hill event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where Ammann placed 23rd.
The Swiss selectors, instead, will take to Italy the 19-year-old Felix Trunz, who was not born when Ammann won at Salt Lake.
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Ammann has a best result of 20th in a World Cup event this season and last finished on a podium in January 2018.
Alpine ski superstar Marco Odermatt is a standout selection and shapes as a strong medal contender in downhill and super-G. He will also defend the giant slalom title he won in China four years ago.
The other defending champion skiers are Corinne Suter in women's downhill and Ryan Regez in men's skicross.
The Milan Cortina Olympics open Feb. 6.
AP Winter Olympics athttps://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
