Walter Bucher

Walter Bucher took up cycling at the age of 10, but had to practice his sport at the side as he apprenticed as a machine fitter. His skills were noticed eventually by Kurt Ott, who recruited him to RV Höngg. At the club, he was able to hone his skills to the point where he was selected to represented Switzerland at the 1948 London Olympics. There, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals in the team pursuit, 4,000 metres alongside Gaston Gerosa, Eugen Kamber, and Hans Pfenninger.

Bucher turned professional shortly after the Games and began competing at the motor-paced World Championships. He took silver in 1955, bronze in 1956, and silver again in 1957 before capturing a world title in 1958. After winning a final medal, silver, in 1959, his career wound down and he retired in 1962 after a fall the previous year. Domestically, he won Swiss Championships in that event in 1955 and 1957-1960.