Nagano 1998

Curling’s first Olympic exposure in Japan in 1998 featured scenes of vibrant colour and enormous crowd enthusiasm. It also featured a memorable passage of play in the men’s event between Japan and the USA, during a tie-breaker to determine the last remaining place in the semi-finals.

In an extremely close game of high quality curling which had kept the home crowd enthralled, it came down to the last stone of the final end of scheduled play. With the scores level, and Japan lying shot, USA Skip Tim Somerville played an exceedingly difficult – and perfect – final stone to clinch the coveted semi-final spot. The emotion of the moment when the outcome was finally decided, which was captured on camera, was awarded the IOC’s “Golden Moment” television award of the Games for the host feed broadcasters, CBC-TV.

The Men’s Olympic Gold medal went to Switzerland’s Patrick Hürlimann who overcame Canada’s Mike Harris in the final, while the Canadians took the first Women’s gold against Denmark. Denmark’s Silver medal was the country’s first ever Winter Olympic medal of any colour, and Skip Helena Blach-Lavrsen proudly carried her nation’s flag in the Closing Ceremonies. The Canadian Skip, Sandra Schmirler, a triple World Gold medallist, sadly died of cancer shortly after and such was her popularity in the Curling world that a charitable foundation was formed in her memory.

The Bronze medals went to Sweden’s Elisabet Gustafson and Norway’s Eigil Ramsfjell, two Nordic legends who also won four and three World championships, respectively.

Athletes, coaches and national teams were bombarded with hundreds of thousands of email messages originating from around the world, expressing fascination with the latest Olympic winter sport. Curling’s new wave of global popularity had begun.

Salt Lake City 2002

At the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games in 2002, the curling event featured 10 teams of men and women, an increase from eight in Japan. The worldwide television coverage was extended dramatically from 1998 and for the first time viewers in the USA, who had been unable to witness the exciting exploits of their team’s “Golden Moment” during the previous Olympics, were treated to some excellent coverage by NBC.

The rankings after the Round Robin competition were headed by the two Canadian teams, but only the Men qualified for the final, which was contested by two very experienced teams skipped by Kevin Martin of Canada and Pål Trulsen of Norway.

In a game of swinging fortunes which saw the Canadians pull back an early Norwegian lead, Trulsen finally triumphed when Martin could not make his last stone count. The Norwegians won Olympic Gold with a 6-5 score.

At the end of the Round Robin competition in the Women’s event, the makeup of the semi-final was unclear with tie-breakers required involving three teams – Germany, Great Britain and Sweden – all with the same win-loss record. The GB team of Scots skipped by Rhona Martin won both their games and developed a momentum that carried them through an epic semi-final against Kelley Law’s Canadians, who had been regarded by many as hot favourites for the title.

The final against the Swiss team of Luzia Ebnöther was close all the way, and at the end of scheduled play after 10 ends, the score was tied at 3-3 and an extra-end was required. Across the Atlantic, over five million British television viewers had given up thoughts of sleep and were wide awake in an agony of suspense.

When Martin’s last perfectly judged delivery finally came to rest after nudging the Swiss counting stone away from the centre, Great Britain had won their first Olympic Winter Games Gold medal since Torvell and Dean’s spectacular Ice Dance at Sarajevo in 1984.

It was a dramatic personal outcome for Rhona Martin who, the week before the Games began, had been forced to leave the British holding camp in Canada to fly to Salt Lake City for hospital tests for a mysterious stomach problem, thereby missing the final practice sessions. Although not fully recovered by the start of the competition, her condition gradually improved (as the result would suggest!).

The final stone that brought her the Gold medal (known in Scotland as the Stone of Destiny) now rests in the Scottish Museum of Sport.

Olympic Bronze was earned by Canada’s Law, the 2000 World Champion, and Switzerland’s Andreas Schwaller, who earned silver at the Worlds in 2001.

Turin 2006

Following a dynamic Round Robin competition at the Ice Palace (Palaghiaccio) in Pinerolo, Italy, numerous teams had captured the attention of spectators and millions of global television viewers. Japan’s Ayumi Onadero earned a spirited run of victories over Canada and defending champion Rhona Martin of Great Britain, and narrowly lost to powerhouse Sweden. In the men’s competition, host Italy made an enormous impact when stylish youngster Joel Retornaz led his team to wins over Germany, the United States and Canada.

In the playoffs, Sweden’s Anette Norberg, the 2005 World Champion, moved into the Olympic Championship final with a 5-4 semi-final victory over two-time World Champion Dordi Nordby of Norway. In the other semi, Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott, who won Olympic silver four years earlier, defeated Canada’s Shannon Kleibrink by a 7-5 count.

On the men’s side, Finland’s Markku Uusipaavalniemi – nicknamed “M-15” for the 15 letters in his last name – upset Great Britain’s David Murdoch 4-3 in one semi-final, earned on a final draw to the button.

The Finns were to be joined in the Championship final by Canada, skipped by 50-year-old Russ Howard – a two-time World Champion – who led a team of young 2001 World Junior Champions, featuring Brad Gushue throwing last rocks. The Canadians blew open a tight 6-5 semi-final against Pete Fenson of the United States, by scoring five points in the final frame for an inflated 11-5 victory.

The women’s final proved a thrilling display, with Switzerland forcing the Swedes to fight for every stone. In an extra-end, Norberg’s troops finally won a 7-6 victory, one of three major championships – the European, Olympic and World Championships – earned in a ‘Triple Crown’ that season.

The men’s final exploded into action in the very first end, as Finland went up 2-0, narrowly missing a chance for a third point. Canada roared back to tie and then stole the following two ends to lead 4-2. With the score 4-3 in the sixth, a remarkable shot by Canadian third Mark Nicols coupled with Finnish errors led to a rare “six-ender” – six points for the Canadians, who finished with a 10-4 championship win.

The Olympic Bronze medals were scored by Canada’s Kleibrink and Fenson’s Americans – the first Olympic curling medal ever won by the United States.

Vancouver 2010

Neither the NOCs nor the individual athletes to be represented in 2010 have been decided, with the upcoming 2008 and 2009 World Championships the key qualifying competitions for WCF Member Associations.

A number of athletes who competed in Turin are in contention once again and will be involved in the final qualification or selection process in their own country. This includes the four finalists from 2006.

With their strength in depth and the largest number of curlers in the world, Canada are expected to be amongst the favourites, irrespective of who represents them. They head the table for Men’s and Women’s World Championships over the years and are currently ranked first in both men’s and women’s World Curling Rankings.

However, in a team sport such as curling, the form book can sometimes be thrown out of the window.

At the 2006 Le Gruyere European Championships, a young Russian women’s team stunned the curling world with their first championship victory. The finalists were a surprise too – Italy’s Diana Gaspari. The Russians had finished 5-4 at Pinerolo while host Italy had finished last at 1-8.

Great Britain’s David Murdoch started his 2006 Olympic week at 6-0, but lost his next five matches to finish fourth. Weeks later he had avenged Turin, plus his loss in the 2005 World final, by defeating Canada to win the 2006 World Championship.

Whether any of these high-performance athletes will be in Vancouver remains to be seen. What sport fans can be confident of, however, is a highly competitive, exciting Olympic competition which will once again keep spectators and viewers around the world on the edge of their seats until the final stones are delivered.

Membership of the Olympic Family and the resulting TV exposure has been largely responsible for the growth and development of the Curling around the world, with the number of curling countries rising from 30 prior to the 1998 Olympics to 46 today.

Curling has changed dramatically from recreational play on outdoor ponds in bygone days, and can probably now be described as:

“Ancient Game – Modern Sport”