The 10. Laureus Charity Night in Zurich

 10 Years of Emotions

Since we started cooperating with IWC  I have been attending some beautiful gala evenings and glamorous events, but the Laureus Charity Night might possibly top them all – you probably know by now how passionate I am for sports and how emotional I can be when meeting a person I admire. The Laureus event last night was packed with people that gave me (and all of us, I guess) incredible emotions, be it at the recent Rio Olympic Games or, in general, in the history of sport. Last night, the Gala turned 10. The auction, which is the most adrenaline-filled part of the evening, raised a perfectly round figure (1 million CHF) that will be used to improve the lives of young people through sport. Are you being skeptical, is this just another charity? If you are not familiar with this organisation, I’ll tell you that the Laureus’ first patron was Nelson Mandela. 10 Years later, the best of Swiss athletes met in Zurich to celebrate, raise funds, and have fun.

The Evening

I arrived at the event with Andre Häfliger, chief reporter of Schweizer Illustrierte, who is the best person to go to a Swiss Gala with, because he knows absolutely anybody who is known is Switzerland. While Andre was chatting with a VIP guest (or, better, with all of them!) I could simply listen and enjoy, or, in a typical blogger way, interrupt the conversation to ask for a picture.

The evening started at the “wall” (where photographers line up to take pictures of all guests) and went on with a beautiful dinner. Before each course one of the two stages near the tables was filled with famous guests.

A highlight was for sure the music: the Laureus-song, performed by singer and Laureus Ambassador Baschi, with Fabian Cancellara at the keyboards, IWC CEO Georges Kern at the drums, and Phoenix Mecano Chairman Benedikt Goldkamp at the guitar, made everybody dance and clap their hands.

After some food, the auction started. We all had some Formula 1 style flags on our tables, to raise in the air to bid. I was very careful to keep my flag low because the items were definitely very expensive. The big “stars” of the auction were the IWC Portugieser Perpetual, Digital-Date Month, single piece “Laureus Charity Night 2016”, that was sold for  CHF 125’000, and the Mercedes SL 300 R107, 1989, that was sold for CHF 150’000.

Finally, after the auction, the Earth, Wind & Fire performed some of their incredible classic music from the 70’s and 80’s, and even the most boring guests of the evening had to react to the music and dance! I absolutely loved it because I was basically standing right in front of them and had plenty of space to dance – I felt it was my personal, private party.

After the music we were offered more refreshments and a DJ opened the disco area. It was the most generous, relaxed atmosphere ever.

Where My Heart Is

There are many people I admire now or were my idols as a kid. Being able to chat with Marcel Hug, who just won two gold medals in Rio and the New York Marathon, or Nadia Comaneci, who made me dream for hours and hours as a kid and I still totally admire as a woman for her combination of beauty, glamour and intelligence today, simply made my heart beat faster, and also motivated me to go on working for everything I wish. It was an inspiring evening that made me aware of how many people fight, train hard, and follow their dreams with all their passion – I wish these guys a lot more success, and I thank them with all my heart.