In February, while some of us were keeping an eye on the Olympics on our TV screens, I received an excited email from Senior Associated Faculty in Italian Carla Onorato that said, “One of the students in my Italian 1101 class is competing in the Olympics, and she’s keeping up with our online classes from Beijing!”
The student was Andrea Braendli, goalie for the Ohio State Women’s Hockey Team, as well as a double major in Criminology and Psychology. Braendli is from Switzerland, and this year she was at the Olympics for a second time as part of the Swiss National Women’s Hockey Team.
Switzerland has three official languages: French, German, and Italian. Even the national hockey team has French, German, and Italian speakers. Braendli grew up speaking German and learned French in school for eight years. This spring she only had two required courses left, and she took the opportunity to learn some Italian, her fourth language and the third official language of her country. “I really love my Italian class, and I hope to keep learning it,” she says.
The Swiss team placed fourth at the Beijing games. “It was sad to lose the bronze medal match to Finland, but our final result was still good,” notes Braendli. She played as starting goalie and played for six of the team’s total seven games.
“My first time at the Olympics was really overwhelming,” says Braendli, “The media attention is huge.” Participating in the Opening Ceremony was an incredible experience, but Braendli remembers seeing all the people and realizing that the whole world was watching. However, she shares that in the Olympic village the athletes are protected from the attention. There is also a lot of opportunity to interact with athletes from other sports and other countries.
Braendli grew up with hockey. Her parents were involved in the sport, and her brother also played professionally until retiring last year. She was recruited to Ohio State in 2017 while participating in a tournament in Russia. She first visited Columbus after the 2018 Olympics and “instantly fell in love.” She really enjoys OSU, the Short North, and downtown.
Growing up she always played with the men’s hockey teams, because the women’s league in Switzerland was not very competitive at the time. Sometimes she made guest appearances on the women’s team. The first time she was on a women’s team was when she came to Ohio State. She was immediately impressed with the team’s culture, professionalism, and high level of playing.
Despite performing as an elite athlete, Braendli devotes an equal amount of time to her education and a career outside of sports. She became interested in Psychology early on. “I’m fascinated with how the mind can play such a huge role,” she says, “how our mind can make us feel something even though there isn’t a physical stimulus in the body.”
Braendli’s interest in Criminology came from a class in rural sociology that she took during her first year. The professor was inspiring, and Braendli was intrigued by the connection of law and psychology.
After graduation this year, Braendli wants to continue pursuing a high level in both academics and sports. Her next academic goal is to earn a Master’s in Psychology and to start working in the field. In hockey, she has several options to play professionally, either in the U.S. or in Europe.
“The next Olympics is in Italy – basically my backyard!” Braendli says. “And four years should give me enough time to develop my Italian,” she adds with a smile. She plans to stay on the national team until at least the next Olympic games, and maybe even for another cycle after that.
