Selina Rutz-Büchel (née Büchel; born 26 July 1991) is a Swiss middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. She holds a personal best of 1:57.95 minutes for the event, which she set in 2015 in Paris.

She is a six-time Swiss champion indoors and outdoors. She represented Switzerland in age-category international competitions and her first senior medal came in the European Team Championships in 2013. She was a semi-finalist at the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships and came fourth at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships. In 2015, she remained undefeated indoors and crowned her indoor campaign with the European indoor title. At the 2016 European Athletics Championships held in Amsterdam, she narrowly missed a medal and finished fourth, setting a season best of 2:00.30 in the semis.

Career Early life and career Born in Mosnang, she began running as a child. She became more serious about the sport as a teenager and joined the local sports club KTV Bütschwil. Initially she did long-distance road running but focused on middle-distance track running after working with the club.Über mich . Selina Büchel. Retrieved on 2014-03-09. She made her first appearances at the senior national level in 2008, coming fourth in the 800 m at the Swiss indoors and seventh at the Swiss outdoor championships.Selina Buchel. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-03-09. She improved her best to 2:06.20 minutes at the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships, but was a little slower in the final and finished seventh.European Junior Championships 2009. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2014-03-09. She also ran in the 1500 metres that year and was runner-up at the Swiss championships and ended the year with a best of 4:29.01 minutes.

Büchel ran a personal best of 2:05.95 minutes in 2010, but did not get past the semi-final stage at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics.World Junior Championships 2010 . WJAH. Retrieved on 2014-03-09. She reached the top of the national team in 2011, winning the 800 m titles indoors and outdoors. She continued to improve her times, recording 2:04.25 minutes for fifth at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships. She repeated as Swiss indoor champion in 2012, but missed part of the outdoor season due to injury. She did manage to improve her best to 2:04.02 minutes in August, however.

Senior competition

She achieved international success for the first time in 2013. After winning another national indoor title she ran a best of 2:01.64 minutes in the semi-finals at the 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships. She won bronze medals at the 2013 European Team Championships first league and the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships. A second outdoor national title was followed by a new outdoor best of 2:01.66 minutes in Amsterdam. She gave a surprise performance at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, improving to 2:00.93 minutes to win her semi-final before coming fourth in the 800 m final.Turnbull, Simon (2014-03-09). Report: women's 800m final - Sopot 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-03-09.Turnbull, Simon (2014-03-07). Report: women's 800m first round – Sopot 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-03-09.

Personal bests Outdoor 400 metres – 53.99 sec (2016) 800 metres – 1:57.95 min (2015) 1500 metres – 4:27.96 min (2011)

Indoor 800 metres – 2:00.38 min (2017)

Competition record Representing 2009European Junior ChampionshipsNovi Sad, Serbia7th800 m2:07.93 2010World Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, Canada20th (sf)800 m2:07.282011European U23 ChampionshipsOstrava, Czech Republic5th800 m2:04.252013European Indoor ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden4th (sf)800 m2:01.64European Team ChampionshipsDublin, Ireland3rd800 m2:03.80European U23 ChampionshipsTampere, Finland3rd800 m2:02.742014World Indoor ChampionshipsSopot, Poland4th800 m2:01.062015European Indoor ChampionshipsPrague, Czech Republic1st800 m2:01.95World ChampionshipsBeijing, China8th (sf)800 m1:58.632016European ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands4th800 m2:00.47Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil8th (sf)800 m1:59.352017European Indoor ChampionshipsBelgrade, Serbia1st800 m2:00.38 NRWorld ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom9th (sf)800 m1:59.352018World Indoor ChampionshipBirmingham, United Kingdom6th800 m2:03.01European ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany7th800 m2:02.052019European Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, United Kingdom5th (sf)800 m2:02.98World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar25th (h)800 m2:03.382021European Indoor ChampionshipsToruń, Poland17th (sf)800 m2:07.47

National titles 800 m indoor: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 800 m outdoor: 2011, 2013

References

External links

Official website