Athletics was his first school, the place where he learned that leg strength is the engine of success.
A bridge of gratitude: The grandfather and the horizon The evening at Metzgplatz was also a moment of deep affection. At that moment, the pride in his Panamanian and African roots beat with the same force as that of his hometown.
IV. It's just five seconds filled with explosive power before he jumps into the steel bobsled. When they crossed the finish line and the stopwatch stopped, the stadium erupted in cheers. Mayor Andreas Schmid smiles from the stage and winks at the crowd: - "Thank you for bringing us the fanfare of July right in the middle of March!". At the center of all eyes, a 24-year-old young man tries to absorb the roar of his city.
Amadou, as the pusher, is responsible for giving the initial impulse to the sled. For the Panamanians, who have just learned his name, it is proof that the DNA of the isthmus can conquer even the most inhospitable ice deserts. He wears the uniform of the Swiss team, but in his gaze and his surname is hidden a story that spans three continents. For him, the medal is a symbol, but not the ultimate goal. - "The decisive thing is to give it all. Amadou thanked his parents, friends, and coaches, but he made a special mention to his grandparents. Amadou's father is from Senegal, but Amadou is also the grandson of a Panamanian who put down roots in this Alpine landscape. It is the wish of a man who knows that the next medalist is perhaps already running on these tracks today.
V. But always, whether on the tartan track of Wilmatten or on the Olympic ice, he will carry with him that dual spirit that makes him unique: an athlete with a Swiss engine and a Panamanian heart.
From tartan to the glass tunnel Amadou's story did not begin in a steel bobsled at 150 km/h, but on the sports fields of Lenzburg. Amadou does not forget that the blood running through his veins carries the warmth of a distant isthmus and the strength of an ancestral continent.
VI. Whoever does this can be proud of themselves, regardless of the final result," he explained with the certainty of someone who has learned that success is born in solitary training sessions, in the cold hours of the morning filled with biochemistry, and in the ability to get up after every fall. Lenzburg went to sleep that night with the pride of having an Olympic medalist. Panama will be happy to know that one of its own has conquered the Winter Olympics. Today, with a bronze medal on his chest, he embodies a fascinating duality: Swiss precision and the impetus of his Swiss-Afro-Panamanian heritage. For the people of Lenzburg, he is "their" star.
At that time, he decided to change his spiked shoes for spiked boots for ice. Amadou Ndiaye Tribaldos is living proof that identity is a map without fixed borders. Today he is the pusher for the Vogt team; tomorrow perhaps he will be the pilot who directs his own destiny. First at the TV Lenzburg gymnastics club and later at the BTV Aarau city gymnastics club, he trained with the discipline that only elite sport demands. But Amadou's destiny took a cinematic turn in 2024. For an alpine country, a monumental triumph.
‘I am the same’: The champion's humility Back in Lenzburg, surrounded by neighbors who saw him grow, Amadou shows that the speed of bobsleigh has not distanced him from the ground. - "I am the same," he confesses with a calm smile. Although people now recognize him on the street, his day-to-day life retains the essence of that boy from the city with the same name.
Beyond the metal: A champion's lesson At the end of the evening, between sandwiches, drinks, and the echo of conversations that seemed endless, an idea floated in the air that Amadou highlighted before leaving the stage. The municipal band breaks the silence with the sounds of the Jugendfest, the great youth festival, which usually only resonates in the summer. On January 18, 2025, he debuted in the World Cup at the legendary ice track of Igls.
III. The air is still steeped in the biting cold of winter, but at Metzgplatz the cold is nothing more than a meteorological footnote. There is something electric in the air, a vibration that doesn't fit with this time of year. Switzerland returned to the Olympic bobsleigh podium for the first time since 2014. That bronze medal was not just metal; it ended a drought of more than 20 years in this discipline.
The roar of Milan-Cortina: Historic bronze The Winter Olympics 2026 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo were the stage of his coronation. I. The echo of the fanfare at Metzgplatz Lenzburg, Switzerland, March 2026.
The four-man bobsleigh is a choreography of brute force and surgical precision. Along with his teammates from the Vogt team — Michael Vogt, Andreas Haas, and Mario Aeberhard — Amadou has managed to bring a bobsleigh medal back to Switzerland, a feat that the Alpine country had been longing to reclaim.
His name is Amadou Ndiaye Tribaldos. At the age of 9, little Amadou came in first in "The Fastest in Lenzburg," a 50 to 80-meter race depending on the age category. By the end of that same year, he was already pushing Nils Reich's sled in the European Cup. The transition from athletics to bobsleigh was dizzying. After three semesters of biochemistry at the University of Bern, he is now looking for training that is compatible with elite sport, while dreaming of one day sitting in the driver's seat.
Even at the peak of success, he does not forget where he comes from. In the figure of his Panamanian grandfather, Amadou's story closes a unique identity circle. This mix of Swiss discipline and the resilience and joy of living from his Panamanian and African roots is perhaps the secret ingredient that propelled him into a dizzying speed through an ice tunnel. In his conversation with the mayor, Amadou made a request: a new tartan track for Wilmatten. - "Without a doubt, that would make my heart beat stronger," he assured.