The Swiss are world champions after twenty years. Isabelle Gerig led her team to this historic moment as captain, scoring ten goals and nine assists in the tournament. In her words, this is only the beginning. She hopes that the victory will motivate more young girls to play floorball.
As captain, you led Switzerland to victory at the World Championships after twenty years. How do you feel now?
I haven’t quite realized what has happened yet. I’m just so proud of my team and what we’ve achieved today. It was a tough battle, hard work. We were solid in defense, we needed to block every shot, and today’s victory was mainly thanks to goalkeeper Lara Heini. I can’t quite describe how I feel right now, it’s mainly happiness.
Today’s success is not the only one for you, but also the semifinal against Sweden. You ended their 18-year unbeaten streak at the World Championships. That’s also very remarkable, you ended Sweden’s dreams of a tenth gold medal.
But the most important thing for us is that we became world champions. Regardless of whether we needed to beat the Swedes to do so. It’s amazing that we managed to beat them twice in a row. Switzerland has never done that before. It’s amazing. I’m very proud of our team. Our team is very young. So there is more to come.
This is your second championship as captain. How difficult is it to keep the team focused on winning and achieving a great result, like today?
When you get on the right flow, as we did yesterday against Sweden, it’s not that difficult. We’re almost like a family here, we have great chemistry. In my opinion, it’s not very common to be so close to your teammates on the national team, and that’s what makes our team special. And that’s why we’re world champions.
We were driven by the desire to win
You lost to the Czech Republic in the preliminary round, but you managed to beat them a few days later. Even in front of a sold-out arena full of Czech fans. Did you have any special preparation for them?
You know very well how the Czechs play. Our previous match was also very tied, especially the first two periods. So we knew what to expect. But I have to say that today wasn’t our best game; we played better the first time. Today, our defense was the deciding factor, and our desire to win drove us forward. We all gave it our absolute all.
This isn’t just about the World Championships, but also about the last Euro Floorball Tour, which showed that the differences between the top four teams are shrinking. Even so, you beat Sweden. What does that mean for women’s floorball?
It’s a good sign. Sweden used to win everything. But this year’s final was between Czechia and Switzerland. This shows that the teams are more balanced and evenly matched. When the four best teams in the world meet, each of them has a chance to win. This is a very good sign for the future of floorball.
There were more than eight thousand people at the final in the Ostravar Arena, and you also had amazing support from fans from Switzerland. How did you enjoy it?
It was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever played in such a great atmosphere. The fans on both sides were very loud. At times, we could really hear our supporters. They pushed us forward. They really were our seventh player. I really enjoyed playing in this arena, and Czechia did a great job organizing everything.
You are world champions for the second time. You waited twenty years for this moment. What does it mean, not only for your team, but for Swiss floorball as a whole?
It’s crazy. I don’t think anyone believed in us. I hope that our success will motivate more girls in Switzerland who watched the final to play floorball. It’s also good news for the future that floorball will grow in Switzerland.