Passion. Determination. Commitment.

However, her success makes up for a lot and she now benefits from her sporting career, for example as co-coach of the Swiss women's national curling team. In this role, she supports the head coach, helps with training, ensures that the team dynamic is right and that the athletes feel comfortable. Ott evaluates opponents and is responsible for testing the stones: “Apart from curling, eating and sleeping, the ice rink and the hotel, there isn't much else during a competition. As an athlete, I was extremely focused and forgot about everything else. As a coach, I'm nervous and can't intervene too much. You literally hand something over - it's not the same job by any means.” Regardless of her current role, Ott was, is and will always be an athlete at heart. “Curling means a lot to me and it's cool to keep making a difference.”

Would curler Ott have liked to have had coach Ott? She laughs: “In my role as coach, I also try to give my best and demand that the players give me feedback,” she says, leaving the question unanswered. The reactions so far have been consistently positive. She therefore assumes that she is not doing a bad job. For her, good coaching means that the team realizes that someone is behind them to support them in the decisive moments. Ultimately, it is the combination of playful and personal elements that makes the task so exciting for Ott. “The fact that the number 1 in a team plays the first stones and the 4 the last does not mean that one player is better than the other. It only has to do with specific tasks and nothing to do with hierarchies.”

When she's not on or off a rink somewhere in the world, Ott works at Finstar. “In sport and at work, it's all about setting high goals and pursuing them consistently, with commitment and passion.” Good team dynamics and transparent communication are key to achieving them. She sees it as a challenge to break down the goals in a large organization into levels and make it clear to employees what everyone can contribute to achieving the goal. “Common goals are important. If you communicate them and set an example, then it works - if not, you have to think about the composition and organization of the team, just like in sport.”

Asked about the differences between sport and a career, Ott replies: “In a career, you have a contract, you work and earn something. In curling, the reward is fame if you're successful - but it would have been nice to be able to make a living from your passion.” That's why the curler had to decide early on to combine top-class sport and a job. She joined Finstar while she was still active in 2012, was initially employed on an hourly wage, then part-time and now works in application management at the banking software company. The collaboration now goes beyond professional aspects: Finstar and Hypothekarbank Lenzburg support Silvana Tirinzoni's curling team as sponsors and are therefore highly visible on and off the curling rinks and screens around the world.