It was at the Unspunnen festival in Interlaken in 2017 when I really became aware of just how important Schwingen – or Swiss wrestling – is in Switzerland.

I’d spent the afternoon sitting in the packed stands of a sports arena watching burly men in jute shorts attempt to throw each other onto the ground in a series of one-on-one competitions held in a sawdust-covered ring. The rules were bemusing, the crowd was riveted, and the whole thing culminated in the eventual winner being presented with a prize bull called Gottlieb. What, I asked myself, had I just watched?

Later on, I was invited to the press lounge of one of the festival’s big sponsors, a major watch brand, to meet a previous national champion, or Schwingerkönig (king wrestler). Matthias Sempach, a stacked, 194cm-tall thirty-something, was ushered over by the PR person of said watch brand – of which Sempach was an ambassador – after signing some autographs and having his photograph taken. And it was then that I realised: Schwingen isn’t just a quirky traditional Swiss custom, like, say, Morris dancing in the UK, it’s a modern, wildly popular sport and its champions are media stars.

Schwingen in Switzerland: things to know before you watch

Schwingen sprung up in farming communities across alpine regions but, like most traditions with rural origins, it’s unclear exactly when. There’s a 13th century carving in Lausanne cathedral which may depict Swiss wrestling, although experts aren’t convinced that it’s not just regular wrestling. Documents from the later Middle Ages reveal that the sport was in (ahem) full swing by then, as towns and cities developed a penchant for alpine culture and staged Schwingen competitions at fairs and festivals.

In 1805 the sport became one of the main centrepieces of the first…

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