Norway's curling team made a splash Tuesday afternoon under the lights of Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium as they stepped out in red, white, and blue argyle-patterned trousers reminiscent of the pants worn by the team 16 years ago in Vancouver. 

The pants went viral in 2010 when Thomas Ulsrud's team brought them out for the first time at the Vancouver Olympic Games and later in 2014 and 2018. This time around, the Norwegian team brought the pants back for their match against Sweden as a tribute to Ulsrud, who passed away from cancer in 2022. The team made a deliberate choice to bring the pants back once during these Games against their Scandinavian rivals given that Sweden's Niklas Edin competed against Ulsrud when the pants made their 2010 debut.

“When we qualified for the Olympics, it was always in the back of our minds, ‘Oh, we should really bring back the pants’,” Norway skipper Magnus Ramsfjell said.

The bold patterned trousers came about through a partnership with Loudmouth Golf, an American sportswear company primarily engaged in golf. Seth Klinek, Loudmouth's director of business strategy and operations, recalled how Ulsrud reached out looking to add some personality to the Olympic uniform in Vancouver.

"Golf and curling, while they don't mesh in terms of client base or customer base or sport base, they do in terms of personality," Klinek said. "It's a very conservative sport. While the athletes themselves are tremendous athletes and there's a lot of skill involved in the actual sports, it doesn't project as a fun sport like many other sports do."

A typical curling uniform involves jerseys and jackets attributed with national colors or symbols with stretchy leggings and plain-colored pants. Ulsrud's team decided on a Loudmouth design featuring a white and gray argyle pattern against bright red pants. The trousers were a hit, and a partnership emerged, leading Loudmouth to sponsor the team during the 2014 and 2018 Olympics. 

Throughout the partnership, the Norwegian flag remained a consistent theme. Of the many patterns worn by the team, a few standouts included a mesh of swirls in the colorway of the Norwegian flag as well as red, white, and blue Hawaiian-themed pants. 

"Scandinavian design, at least in my personal experience, is loud in terms of color and vibrancy," Klinek said. "While the patterns might not necessarily have a lot of the little micro design elements to them as frequently, the big, bold colors certainly speak Loudmouth and speak to the personality that we're looking to project."

The pants did not appear in 2022 due to the pandemic and Ulsrud's passing. However, Ramsfjell and his team wanted to "do an homage to Thomas and the classic 2010 team" in 2026. Thus, the pants were revived for one night, and one night only. 

In 2010, Ulsrud's team wore Dixie A Argyle, a pre-made Loudmouth pattern. This year, Loudmouth took inspiration from the off-the-rack design, working with the country's colors and a touch of gray while switching up a few design elements to create a custom look for the team. 

With the advancements in digital printing and sublimation, a process that uses heat, pressure, and time to transfer dye onto materials, Loudmouth's design team is able to manipulate existing fabrics and apply them directly onto already-tailored clothing. 

"We work backwards, source the best sporting material that we can in terms of weight, flexibility and other aspects that we're looking at and basically hand that off to the design team," Klinek said. "Because of that wonderful technology, they're able to apply anything that their imagination can come up with to that particular fabric."

This year's Olympic Games ushered in various sponsorships and brand partnerships, particularly from luxury fashion houses such as Moncler for Brazil's Alpine team and Ralph Lauren for the United States. However, Norway's boldness in attire is rarely seen in curling, much less in the world of sport. 

"I appreciate the fact that it's a narrow lane that we live in because it keeps it special and it keeps it extra fun," Klinek said. "If everybody were doing it and it became the norm, it wouldn't be fun anymore. It would just be expected. We like to do the unexpected."

Klinek loves the idea of bringing brighter, bolder colors in sportswear at the Games, emphasizing the special opportunity to represent one's patriotic pride in their country's colors. With Norway's curling pants making their return and other sports like Alpine skiing embracing louder, more colorful patterns, it's safe to say daring sportswear is on the rise.

"It's such a tense environment," Klinek said. These athletes are on a world stage. World records are being broken by teams every single day. The pressure is on in their space. No one is thinking about what they're looking like. If we're able to add some fun and personality and kind of just break that tension just for the minute, double thumbs up."