Livio WENGER

Switzerland

Speed Skating

Date of Birth: 20 Jan 1993

Age: 29

Gender: Male

Height (m/ft): 1.75/5'8''

Place of birth: KRIENS

Birth Country:

Switzerland

Residence: GEISINGEN

Residence Country:

Germany

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Speed Skating	Men's 5000m	18
	Men's Mass Start	7

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	National Speed Skating Oval	Men's 5000m	Finished
	National Speed Skating Oval	Men's Mass Start Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

Historical Results

Olympic Games
Rank	Event	Year	Location
4	Men's Mass Start	2018	PyeongChang, KOR
17	Men's 5000m	2018	PyeongChang, KOR
25	Men's 1500m	2018	PyeongChang, KOR

European Championships
Rank	Event	Year	Location
3	Men's Team Sprint	2020	Heerenveen, NED
7	Men's 1500m	2020	Heerenveen, NED
11	Men's Allround	2021	Heerenveen, NED
17	Men's Allround	2016	Minsk, BLR
18	Men's Mass Start	2020	Heerenveen, NED
27	Men's Allround	2014	Hamar, NOR

World Single Distance Championships
Rank	Event	Year	Location
4	Men's Mass Start Semi-Final 2	2021	Heerenveen, NED
5	Men's Team Sprint	2020	Salt Lake City, UT, USA
6	Men's Mass Start Final	2021	Heerenveen, NED
7	Men's Mass Start	2019	Inzell, GER
9	Men's Mass Start	2016	Kolomna, RUS
13	Men's Mass Start	2020	Salt Lake City, UT, USA
13	Men's 1500m	2020	Salt Lake City, UT, USA
14	Men's Allround	2020	Hamar, NOR
16	Men's Mass Start	2018	Gangneung, KOR
17	Men's 5000m	2020	Salt Lake City, UT, USA

World Allround Championships
Rank	Event	Year	Location
9	Men's Allround	2019	Calgary, AB, CAN

World Cup
Season	Men's 1000m	Men's 1500m	Men's Mass Start	Men's Long Distances
2020/21		14	2	20
2019/20	69	12	8	34
2018/19	57	14	4	34
2017/18	83	49	5	30
2016/17		51	11	31
2015/16		80	18	66
2014/15		45		60
2013/14		51	20	53

Hobbies:

Sports, cooking

Occupation:

Athlete, Sports soldier

Education:

Business - FREI'S Schulen AG Luzern (SUI)

Family:

Partner, Dalia Soberanis. Father, Ruedi. Mother, Elsbeth (nee Walcher). Sister, Nadja. Brother, Marco.

Languages spoken:

German, English

Club name:

Eislauf-Club Zurich

Coach:

National: Kalon Dobbin (NZL)

Sporting relatives:

Partner Dalia Soberanis (Inline speed skating): Guatemalan and Central American champion from 2006-19. Won 200m sprint bronze at the 2019 World Roller Games, and a silver (500m) and bronze (300m time trial) at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima.

Father Ruedi Wenger (Cross-country skiing): Competed in the annual Engadin Skimarathon, finishing 15th in 1989.

Mother Elsbeth Wenger (Roller sports): Previously president of the Swiss Roller Sports Federation (SRV).

Sister Nadja Wenger (Speed skating, Inline speed skating): Competed at two World Single Distances Championships (2020-21) and one European Championship (2020). Won three silver medals at the 2019 National Championships. Competed at multiple World and European Inline Speed Skating Championships since 2013, placing fourth in the relay at the 2013 European Championships.

Other sports:

Inline speed skating: Silver medallist in the 10000m points race at the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw. Won multiple medals at the 2014 and 2015 European Championships.

Debut:

2012 American Cup Final in Salt Lake City (500m - 26th, 1000m - 29th/25th, 5000m - 8th)
2014 World Cup in Inzell (1500m B - 16th, 5000m B - 13th)

Injuries:

2015: Achilles heel injury.

2012: Adductor muscle injury.

National team:

2014

Start:

Received his first pair of roller skates at age six. First tried speed skating on ice in 2012 in Salt Lake City, UT (USA), in a hope to fulfil his Olympic dream. (liviowenger.ch; luzernerzeitung.ch, 21 Nov 2017)

Ambition:

Win a medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. (blick.ch, 12 Dec 2018)

Memorable:

Winning an inline speed skating silver medal at the 2017 World Games (10000m points race). (isu.org)

Hero:

Tennis player Roger Federer (SUI), Beijing 2008 Olympic doubles champion, with 20 career Grand Slam titles.
Road cyclist Fabian Cancellara (SUI), two-time Olympic time trial gold medallist and four-time world time trial champion. (Info 2018)

Influence:

Coach Kalon Dobbin (NZL), and his family. (Info 2018)

Philosophy:

"Never look back." (isu.org, 2021)

Award:

Best Junior Athlete of Central Switzerland (2010)

General Interest

LOCKDOWN IN GUATEMALA
After the 2020 speed skating season ended, he decided to travel to Guatemala to visit his partner and have a few weeks of vacation. With the country in lockdown due to COVID-19, he eventually spent three months there. Due to strict limitations on going outside, he spent much of the time training on an indoor bicycle and the rooftop gym. (liviowenger.ch, 3 Jan 2021)

WHEELS TO ICE
"It was incredibly difficult. Obviously, these sports look similar, but to me, it was unexplored territory. The only things I was able to take along were my feeling for racing in a group and the hunger for victory." (luzernerzeitung.ch, 21 Nov 2017)

HISTORIC BRONZE
In 2020, Wenger and the Swiss team won bronze in the team sprint at the European Championships. It was the first medal for Switzerland in an international speed skating championship. Wenger initially did not want to compete. "The coaches, Christian and Oli [his teammates] convinced me to try it. Two weeks before the first World Cup we did a trial race. It was horrible. I said, 'Let's never do this again.' But we did anyway, and now I'm glad we did." (schaatsen.nl, 11 Jan 2020)

Milestones

First ever Swiss skater to win an international senior medal, after earning bronze at the 2020 European Single Distance Championships in the team sprint along with Oliver Grob and Christian Oberbichler.

His fourth place at the 2018 Olympics in the mass start event was the best Olympic performance by a Swiss speed skater ever, and only the second ever top-10 classification, the first coming at the hands of Franz Krienbuhl (eighth in 1976's 10,000 m).

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event

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