Dill-Bundi won the individual competition at the politically charged games in Moscow in 1980 and sparked controversy with a gesture. The public then called him a traitor who sympathized with communism.
The atmosphere at Robert Dill-Bundi’s Olympic victory could hardly have been more bleak. No national anthem, no Swiss flag, hardly any spectators in the stands, no congratulatory telegram from the Federal Council. The circumstances were due to the political explosiveness: It was the controversial 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, which were boycotted by the USA and other nations because the Soviet hosts were waging war in Afghanistan.
Switzerland also considered staying away from the event. After a vote in the Swiss Olympic Committee, which narrowly voted in favor, it finally put together a (resized) delegation. And this delegation competed in Moscow under the Olympic flag. The Olympic anthem was played, not the Swiss national anthem, after the Valais cyclist Dill-Bundi stormed to gold in the 4000-meter individual pursuit. There were only a few reporters present. The NZZ, for example, decided not to send sports journalists from Zurich to Moscow.
So far, so unspectacular. But then this iconic image emerged that went around the world, of this scene that some saw as a provocation. When Dill-Bundi had won the final against the Frenchman Alain Bondue by a huge margin, he put his bike to the side, knelt down – and kissed the track. Dill-Bundi wanted to understand this as a spontaneous gesture and simply as a sign that he had grown fond of the oval of Krylatskoje after all. Because he had initially fallen twice on the difficult wooden track.
In his Swiss homeland, however, his kiss was interpreted differently – and sparked a controversy. The 21-year-old boy was called a traitor who apparently sympathized with the communist system. Dill-Bundi wanted to stay out of such political discussions.
Brain tumors, epileptic seizures, heart attacks: nothing was spared his health
Given the lack of opponents from the boycotting countries, there was also debate about how much his Olympic victory was actually worth. The news agency “Sportinformation” did not see any equal opponents among those absent and therefore did not want to see any reduction in the triumph. Dill-Bundi was voted Swiss Sportsman of the Year in 1980. He had certainly benefited in Moscow from the aerodynamics of his silver helmet and a shiny, one-piece racing suit.
The individual pursuit at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.
After that, Dill-Bundi tried his hand at professional road cycling, with limited success. He once won a stage of the Giro d’Italia. Back on the track, things went better: in 1983, he won silver at the World Championships in Zurich in the individual pursuit, and a year later in Barcelona he even won gold in the Keirin. After his professional career, he became a trainer and association official. But his luck gradually ran out. In the last 25 years of his life, almost everything fell apart.
Brain tumors, epileptic fits, heart attacks: nothing was spared his health. He was close to death many years ago before a new therapy that sent electric shocks through the brain prolonged his life. A second marriage also failed and he lost all his fortune. In 2013, Dill-Bundi suffered a blackout while driving a car in western Switzerland, which caused a pile-up with serious injuries. A court sentenced him to a fine. He could no longer do his job at the UCI in Aigle.
From then on, Dill-Bundi lived as an IV pensioner in a small apartment on the breadline. He tried to bear his fate with composure. When the “NZZ am Sonntag” visited him in 2016, he was full of life and talkative. He said succinctly: “At least I’m still here. Others have already died.” And he said that he only became an Olympic champion because he didn’t have rich parents.
With his performance on July 24, 1980, professional cyclist Robert Dill-Bundi won the gold medal in the 4000-meter track pursuit race. He certainly benefited from the aerodynamics of his silver helmet and shiny racing suit in Moscow.
His look was downright frightening
Dill-Bundi grew up as an only child with a single mother. To earn some money during his training, he worked as a caddy on a golf course. When he had 600 francs together, he wanted to buy a moped from a bike dealer. But the dealer explained to him that one of those would cost twice as much and that he would only get an orange racing bike for that amount.
So Dill-Bundi takes the bike to at least have some kind of vehicle. His motorized colleagues smile at him – which awakens an enormous ambition in him. When he competes against them using pure muscle power, he pedals like a madman. And he maintains this determination all the way to the Olympic final in Moscow. His opponent there, Alain Bondue, later reported that Dill-Bundi’s look in their duel was downright terrifying. Dill-Bundi said of this when he was once again lacking in squeamishness: “I wanted to destroy my opponent.” And: He waged war against this “shitty track.”
Robert Dill-Bundi (right) with Jürg Röthlisberger, who won gold in judo for Switzerland in Moscow.
In recent times, cycling has evoked fewer and fewer positive emotions in Dill-Bundi. In 2016, he even said that he was glad that his son had retired from the sport early, despite his talent.
On Monday, the family confirmed that Robert Dill-Bundi had died at the age of 65. He was preceded in death by his former coach Josef Helbling just a few days earlier. To date, Dill-Bundi is the only Swiss Olympic cycling champion on the track.