Olympic honour for ETH student
ETH student Isabel Derungs was awarded an Olympic diploma yesterday in Sochi. She came eighth in the snowboard slopestyle category. Derungs is one of several participants from ETH Zurich at the Olympics.
Zurich’s Isabel Derungs secured third place in the qualifying round, stirring up hopes of a medal. A fall in the final resulted in eighth place: an admirable achievement in the Olympics’ newest discipline. She was only surpassed in the Swiss team by Sina Candrian who secured fourth place.
Everyone at the ETH is extremely pleased about Isabel Derungs’ success, particularly Sebastian Bonhoeffer, Professor of Theoretical Biology, who knows the athlete well. Derungs told him very early on in her Master’s degree that she was also a serious athlete – she wanted to know whether it would be possible to complete his course by distance learning. That was it –Derungs managed it without any difficulty, even though Bonhoeffer’s courses are some of the most demanding on the programme. Bonhoeffer: “I find it admirable when someone takes on a Master’s degree in addition to a sporting career; even more so when they succeed like Isabel.” He sent his congratulations to her in Sochi by email after she qualified – for which Isabel thanked him before the final.
Athlete and successful student
Three years ago while she was still doing her Bachelor’s degree, she showed little sign of being a top athlete. Martin Ackermann, Professor of Molecular Microbial Ecology, who supervised her Bachelor thesis at the time, was not even aware that the young, up-and-coming star from Zurich was a serious athlete. She only stood out due to the very good work that she carried out together with her classmate Valerie Lipscher. Derungs is said to have been very interested, motivated and particularly quick minded. The standard perception that top athletes are only capable of delivering a minimum in their studies is thus not at all the case here.
Other ETH students also join Isabel Derungs on the starting block in Sochi: snowboarder Simona Meiler is completing her Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Systems Science at a slower pace. She took part in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where she came ninth in Boardercross. She then suffered a cruciate rupture two years ago. Meiler is currently fighting her way back to the top, already securing sixteenth place this season in Lake Louise. She is also standing out in her studies at ETH through her high level of self-discipline and is obtaining very good marks.