Striking a chord

Swiss snowboarder keen to expand budding music career in China

Swiss snowboarder and singer-songwriter Patrick Burgener plans to shine off-piste after Beijing 2022, telling Xinhua he dreams of embarking on a music tour around China following the Games.

The 27-year-old, who finished 11th in the men's halfpipe, has a handful of releases to his name and after enjoying his experience at Beijing 2022, is determined to make inroads into the Chinese market with his music.

"I definitely see a potential future in China since I never thought it would be possible before, because it's such a big market. But since the Olympics, I was so impressed," Burgener told Xinhua in a video interview. "When I went to the pipe people actually know me like 'you are the guy from Instagram and social media', 'can we take a picture?'. It's crazy.

"I feel like Chinese people are really nice and kind and once they like someone, they really like a lot," Burgener said. "I think China could be great and that's why the first thing that came to my mind was like I need to do a tour in China. It would be amazing to fill up venues with these kinds of people that know me from social media and do an amazing show with a lot of fun and connection with the people."

Burgener has released four EPs so far-The Route (2018), Icar (2019), Better Man (2020) and California Sun (2021)-and performed at festivals and venues across Switzerland, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Zermatt Unplugged, Gurtenfestival, and Kaufleuten in Zurich.

"Eleven months ago I got injured. I've worked so hard to get back. And I'm recording an album still. I've released the first single from the album which is going really well even in China. People are listening to it now, they love it. I get so many messages every single day.

"I really got into content creation through music and doing my own music videos. I've got my own personality now. I'm doing funny videos. They go viral everywhere."

Burgener joined Switzerland's national team at the age of 14 and landed the world's first switch backside triple cork 1440 in 2011. He finished fifth in the halfpipe at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. He also earned two bronze medals at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships in 2017 and 2019.

Despite failing to rank among the medals, he said he enjoyed Beijing 2022 more than his previous Olympic experience in Pyeongchang.

"I loved the Beijing Games, to be honest. I was super really surprised by the organization, how well it went. The people are so nice and amazing and really I just have so much fun," he said.

"It's actually a really amazing experience. I have had more contact with people than the last Olympics in (the Republic of) Korea because in Korea we were not close to the (Olympic) village. We were living on our own in small apartments on the mountain and now we have a village close to our hotel so it's amazing. I love it really."

Burgener began his journey back to Switzerland on Sunday with plenty of positive memories banked from his time in China.

"The pipe was one of the best in the world, and there was no wind this year. It was really cool. They built a wall to stop the wind and I mean it's great, just a little bit cold for us if we're not that used to it, but it's doable, you know," he said of the men's halfpipe competition at Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou.

Describing his life in the Olympic Village, he said that from a culinary perspective there was something for everyone on the menu.

"I love all the Chinese stuff. I'm vegetarian so I really had to be careful, because a lot of food has meat in it even though it's like tofu. It's like tofu with beef. Restaurants are not the best option for me. I like to go to the buffet. We had all kind of food. It's amazing."

Xinhua