Angelica Moser is sitting on packed suitcases. The athlete from the LCZ athletics club in Zurich is traveling to the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Istanbul the following day. Her mission: to defend her 2021 European Championship title. Not only does Angelica have all the necessary equipment with her; she also has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Bern. But before it comes to fighting for medals in the metropolis of millions on the Bosporus, Moser offers an insight into her everyday life as a student and top athlete.

Treading in her sister’s footsteps

“I used to do everything my sister did,” Moser replies when asked how she came to the pole vault. Her sister first started with gymnastics, with Angelica soon to follow. As her sister gradually started to defy gravity with a pole, Moser thought she could do the same. Since then, she has never let go of her fascination with the sport. “In pole vaulting, you get very close to the feeling of flying. It is also an extremely versatile discipline. We not only train with the pole, but also work on strength, sprint, jumping and gymnastics, which makes day-to-day training varied,” says the athlete.

Important mental balance

After finishing sports high school and spending a year in the top sports recruit school, the 2016 junior world champion knew she wanted to complete a course of studies alongside her career as a top athlete. “Training takes up a lot of time. Nevertheless, it is important for me to be mentally challenged outside day-to-day training and competition as well.” Because she trains at the national high-performance center in Magglingen, Moser finally decided to study Business Administration at the University of Bern.

The top athlete quickly came to appreciate the fact that the University of Bern has created conditions that enable her to combine sport and studies. “I found the flexibility of the professors and the willingness to work together to find individual and unconventional solutions very valuable. In Isabelle Stadelmann, I also had a personal contact at the faculty who I could always ask for advice on matters relating to my studies,” says Moser.

Valuable podcasts

As a top athlete, Angelica Moser travels a lot. The Olympic athlete therefore finds it extremely helpful that most of the lectures are recorded and subsequently made available to the students as podcasts. “The podcasts offer great added value, especially for us top athletes. They allow us to follow our studies at any time, no matter where we are in the world.”

Unlike her fellow students, the multiple-time Swiss champion sometimes takes an exam while waiting for her departure at Prague airport, for example. The exam questions are not a source of panic, although the unstable Internet connection sometimes is. “It may sound a bit silly, but the bachelor’s degree was relatively easy for me,” adds the master’s student at the end of the interview.

Major objectives  

Angelica Moser wants to fly high – in sport as well as in her studies. And because, as everyone knows, you’re only as good as your last performance, the multiple-time Swiss champion has already set her sights firmly on her next goals after her return from Istanbul. In the summer, the World Athletics Championships are being held in Budapest. Afterwards, the focus will be on the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. It is quite possible that Angelica Moser will not only have all the necessary equipment to win a medal with her, but also her master’s degree.