Despite being the youngest member of the Swiss men’s squad at the Paris Olympic Games, Matteo Giubellini displayed remarkable composure, achieving Switzerland’s best Olympic all-around finish since Josef Stalder placed 10th at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
“It’s been an incredible journey, and I’m still processing it all,” Giubellini shared with Sports Macro. “The competition in Paris was unforgettable, and achieving these results at such a major event feels incredible.”
Having finished 13th all-around at the European Championships earlier this year, Giubellini didn’t set his sights on a top-10 finish for his Olympic debut. “My main goal was to reach the team final. I didn’t have a specific individual target; I just wanted to perform my routines well and avoid mistakes,” explained Giubellini, who turns 20 on November 7, 2024.
Giubellini comes from a gymnastics family: his mother, Sabine, was a competitor, while his father, Daniel, won gold on parallel bars at the 1990 European Championships and participated in the 1992 Olympics. His older brother, Luca, competed alongside him in Paris, scoring the top Swiss pommel horse result in the team final, and his younger sister, Chiara, also competed at the 2022 European Championships. Their younger brother, Elio, is a former gymnast now playing soccer.
“We support each other through thick and thin,” Giubellini said, emphasizing the positive atmosphere that helps mitigate any sibling rivalry.
His success in Paris not only strengthened his family legacy but also showcased the depth of the Swiss team. Teammate Florian Langenegger also reached the all-around final, finishing 16th, while Noe Seifert, who placed eighth at last year’s world championships, narrowly missed qualifying for the final. The Swiss team, including the Giubellini brothers, Langenegger, Seifert, and Taha Serhani, placed seventh in the team final, a result Matteo attributes to their diligent training and consistency.
“It’s a slow but steady rise that reflects our hard work,” said Giubellini, coached by Nils Haller and Laurent Guelzec. “Looking back, I’m very happy with my overall performance. I’m also pleased that we achieved our main goal of reaching the team final; anything beyond that was just a bonus.”
After a short holiday, Giubellini is gradually returning to rigorous training at the Swiss national performance center in Magglingen, gearing up for upcoming competitions. “The content of my training won’t change much, but I’ll be training more hours. I aim to increase the difficulty across all events without compromising execution,” he stated.
