India, Feb. 26 -- Athletes usually experience cities in fragments - an airport, a hotel corridor, a stadium tunnel, a medal ceremony, then departure.

Zurich refused to stay a fragment.When Neeraj arrived, it wasn't the skyline that registered first but the stillness of the lake. Lake Zurich sits right at the edge of the city, wide and deliberate, with sailboats that seem to move without urgency. On clear days, the Alps stretch faintly in the distance, not dramatic, just present.

He stayed above the city at The Dolder Grand, a historic property that looks out across the water and toward the mountains. From that height, Zurich appears almost compact, with church spires punctuating the centre, trams threading through streets and the lake a...