Jonas Raess

Jonas Raess (born 8 March 1994) is a Swiss long-distance runner. He competed in the 5000 metres at the 2020 Olympics. Additionally, he earned a gold medal at the 2019 Universiade. Currently, he holds the national title for the 5000 metres and national records for the indoor and outdoor 3000 metres as well as the indoor 5000 metres.

Career and background

Jonas Raess began his professional career much later on, around 2019, once he had completed his education and graduated with a bachelor's degree. The earlier half of his career was plagued by injuries, which caused Swiss Athletics to remove him from its youth team at a certain point. Often, he would spend his time eagerly training and injured himself repeatedly as a result of the intense strain put on his body. Now, he is much careful with his training and has learned to pace himself in-between practice sessions. He knows that he could potentially ruin himself if he pushes too much trying to keep up with his teammates, who are younger and faster than him.

He credits his mother for getting him into running when he was young. He entered into an annual running event for children and that sparked his interest in the sport. He did road races but never ran on a track until 2004. He was invited to join TV Unterstrass and trained at the club under Hansruedi Ilg. Then, he changed to LC Regensdorf where Ruedi Meier coached him. He is also a member of the On Athletics Club that is led by American long-distance runner and head coach Dathan Ritzenhein.

Raess made his international debut at the 2011 European Youth Olympic Festival in Trabzon, Turkey and finished in 13th place in the 3000 metres.

Raess set a new Swiss record in the 3000 metres on 10 September 2023 at the Hanžeković Memorial in Zagreb, Croatia. Markus Ryffel, the legendary Swiss long-distance runner and Olympic silver medalist in the 5000 metres, held the previous record for 44 years, ever since July 1979. Raess erased almost 6 seconds off Ryffel's time, bringing it down from 7:41.00 to 7:35.12.

Ryffel congratulated Raess on his newest achievement. Raess revealed that “[Ryffel] was one of my first well-wishers. He sent me personal messages. He even sent me a personal congratulatory message via video on social media”. Raess continued to share that Ryffel was happy for him and a big fan.

Raess strives to break Ryffel's other record of 13:07.54 in the 5000 metres from the 1984 Olympics. Raess' last attempt in June 2023 fell short by 6 seconds. He wants to accomplish this goal below the 13 minute barrier.

Achievements

Information from his World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.