Next time you’re in Switzerland, drop in to the Olympic Museum at Lausanne ...After all, there’s a good chance you helped pay for it.

Musee Olympique Musee Olympique. Images: Getty Images

If the world’s nations were sportspeople, America would be the star quarterback, Australia the cheeky upstart, South Africa the sin-binned hardhead and Switzerland the referee. The latter is seen as the ultimate neutral state, and considering it houses everything from the European headquarters of the UN to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, it’s no great shock that it’s where you’ll also find the home of the IOC – and its Olympic Museum.

Sitting like a proud gold-medallist on the banks of Lake Geneva in the south-west corner of la Suisse, the museum, located at Lausanne, faced the starter’s pistol in 1993 and remains a satisfying out-of-competition hit for fanatics of the world’s biggest sports carnival.Fanatics, that is, like former Olympics boss Juan Antonio Samaranch, who had delirious governments falling over themselves trying to impress him and his IOC cronies throughout his reign from 1980 to 2001. While not wanting to let a sceptical view wreck the fun of the visit, we couldn’t help but wonder whether this was the world’s first international tax-payer funded sports museum (getting this glistening-white mansion built was Samaranch’s pet project, after all).

As a sports memorabilia showpiece, it puts your measly poolroom collection to shame. Rather than lock treasures behind walls of protective glass or inside gruesomely-thick mahogany cabinets, museum curators have mounted pieces on small, easy-to-walk-around islands, putting them within touching distance of visiting gawkers. (Actually touch something, though, and you’ll be out on your ear faster than Linford Christie).Probably the world’s most looked at article of clothing of the past year is on display, the #2163 shirt which Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt wore to canter to his three gold medals and two world records at the Beijing Games. Trouble is, you’re up close and personal with the famous clobber early on in your visit, leaving you to ponder, “Can it get any better than that?”

It’s all there, from the costume German figure skater Katarina Witt wore to win gold in the ladies’ singles at Calgary in 1988, to even a brief mention of an Aussie, in the form of the cycling outfit donned by gold-medallist Chris Scott at Athens during the 2004 Paralympics.For those who find memorabilia as thrilling as an early-rounds Olympic baseball clash, tributes to the athletes themselves abound in the form of temporary and permanent exhibitions which celebrate everything from heroism to technological advancement, as well as Olympic event-specific retrospectives. The exhibitions explore – apart from athletes’ famous wins – what makes them gracious winners, losers and the all-round good guys and gals they’ll forever be adored for. Famous quotes like American baseballer, basketballer, footballer and Olympian Jim Thorpe’s “I have always liked sport and only played or run races for the fun of the thing” add a nice touch.

There’s a memento from every modern Olympics torch relay on show There’s a memento from every modern Olympics torch relay on show. Image: Getty images

Our 400m golden girl Cathy Freeman glides across five giant screens as part of a pulsating image and film overview of past Olympic Games set to a mix of haunting classical music, moody overtones and plenty of doof doof. It all leaves visitors psyched-up to book flights to London for three years’ time.Upon recovering from sensory overload, visitors can then “climb aboard” an Olympic bobsleigh as it hurtles around the Cesana Pariol circuit used for Torino in 2006.

To get to the museum from Geneva, hop on a train from Place de Cornavin … or hire a car if you can handle driving on the right side of the road. The trip by rail takes 45 minutes, with a return ticket to Lausanne and entry to the museum only setting you back $34. (Tell ticket window staff at Geneva that you’re on your way to the museum and you’ll score the cheap deal).Once at Lausanne, head south towards the lake. It’ll take you 25 minutes on foot, or you can hop on the handy Metro train. Try imagining a city the size of Toowoomba boasting an underground subway system and you’ll get an idea of how highly-advanced and technically brilliant Switzerland can be. Rather like the athletes featured in the Musee Olympique.

– James Smith