Curling, a sport often relegated to niche status, will receive its full weight of attention in Vancouver. With the exception of hockey, no pair of gold medals will mean more to the 2010 host. A pair of nations, one a bastion of curling heritage and the other a recent upstart, hopes to spoil a Canadian sweep next February. Here are the curling storylines to watch in Vancouver.
American outsiders
At the 2006 Games, an inexperienced American team claimed bronze, the first Olympic curling medal for the United States. In Vancouver, the U.S. men's rink skipped by John Shuster, a member of Pete Fenson's bronze medal-wining team, is not expected to be a medal contender, but could again surprise. Shuster remains one of the better young skips in the world, having won the 2007 World University Games. The U.S. women have fared worse since winning Olympic Trials in March. The rink, led by skip Debbie McCormick, finished the 2009 World Championships a disastrous 4-7, the worst finish for the foursome in four world championship appearances together. The Canadian-born McCormick is a veteran of the Nagano (fifth place) and Salt Lake Games (fourth), but will make her first Olympic appearance as skip in Vancouver. The men's and women's rinks have the distinction of being the first Americans named to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team.
China rising
China won its first world or Olympic curling title at the 2009 Women's World Championship in Gangneung, South Korea. The historic win, a first for Asia, came despite there being fewer than 200 active curlers in China, and only one professional-standard curling facility. In China, where the event was broadcast nationally for the first time, 100 people greeted the rink at the Beijing Capital International Airport. Curling has made considerable gains since the men's and women's national teams were formed in 2000. To help development, the Chinese hired Canadian Dan Rafael to coach the squads, both of which have spent considerable time training and competing in Canada this past year.
While both the men's and women's Chinese teams will be making their Olympic debut in Vancouver, it's the women, led by 24-year-old skipper Wang Bingyu, who should contend for the gold medal. Wang was first encouraged to take up the sport by her father, a hockey coach. China's rink hails from Harbin, a winter sports mecca that fellow world champions Wang Meng (short track), Liu Jiayu (halfpipe) as well as 2006 silver medalists Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao (pairs figure skating) call home. The men's rink is similarly green, but erratic, and has been unable to make what is perhaps a more difficult transition to the elite of the men's circuit.
Scots take back the throne
At the 2009 World Curling Championships, a Canadian men's rink that had approached another stratosphere in the sport finally met its foil in dairy farmer-turned-professional-curler David Murdoch of Scotland. The 30-year-old skip, who competed at the 2006 Olympics, led his rink to an improbable three straight victories over Canada to claim his second world championship (Murdoch also won in 2006). Murdoch is one of only a handful of curlers that receive a government's financial support, allowing him to focus solely on the sport. Despite being the birthplace of curling, Scotland won only its fifth world title in the 51-year history of the event. Murdoch's strong play in the past several years easily establishes Great Britain (Scotland does not have its own National Olympic Committee) as a co-favorite for gold at the Vancouver Games, along with the team that emerges from Canada's Olympic Trials in December. Great Britain has never won an Olympic medal in men's curling (the women won gold in 2002).
Dream destination
At the 1988 Calgary Games, curling returned to the Olympic program as a demonstration sport. Curling-crazed Canadians snatched up the 21,000 tickets for the six days of competition almost as soon as they went on sale and sold out faster than any sport except figure skating and speed skating. Now, Olympic curling will be staged as a medal sport for the first time in Canada. Though the sport had it genesis in Scotland, it's Canada where curling blossomed and evolved. Since 1998, when curling was added to the Olympic program, Canada is the only country to win a medal in both men's and women's competition at every Winter Games.
Among those most eagerly awaiting a Canadian Winter Olympics are the international curlers, who call Vancouver a dream destination. "There is no better feeling than winning in Canada, the audiences are so good," Murdoch said. "I love it. They appreciate so many of the shots. It gives you a real buzz." Despite rumblings from within the curling community that the 2010 venue, at a capacity of 6,000, is insufficient for the excessive demand, expect a raucous atmosphere at the Vancouver Olympic Centre next February. But don't think that a gold medal for Canada is a given. Canada has been upset in the men's gold-medal game in two of the three Games where curling has appeared. In 1998, Patrick Huerlimann skipped Switzerland to gold over Canada's Mike Harris. In 2002, Paal Trulsen skipped Norway past Canada's Kevin Martin.
Pink is their favorite color
Thomas Ulsrud has emerged as the well-tanned face of Norwegian curling in the past few years. The 37-year-old owner of several tanning salons in Oslo, and his young rink, have won the hearts of curling fans with their hip appeal. In addition to its strong play, Ulsrud has won three world bronze medals in the past four years, the team also drawn attention for its bright pink belts. When asked their purpose, second Christoffer Svae responded, "Why not? There's not enough pink in North America." Norway and its pink belts will remain a medal contender in Vancouver.
