The XVIII Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan provide a special memory for curling fans around the world. Ten years ago this coming Friday, February 15, official gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to Olympic curling athletes for the first time.

International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch presented gold meals to the Swiss men's team representing the Lausanne Olympique curling club, skipped by Patrick Huerlimann. Canada, led by Mike Harris, earned silver while Norway's Eigil Ramsfjell took the bronze.

The women's champions were captained by Canada's Sandra Schmirler, who died of cancer two years later. Denmark's Helena Black-Lavrsen won her country's first-ever Olympic Winter Games medal, a silver, while Sweden's much-decorated Elisabet Gustafson won the bronze.

"The World Curling Federation pays tribute to the members of the NAOC organizing committee, the volunteers and to the town of Karuizawa, hosts of the 1998 Olympic curling event," said Les Harrison, WCF president.

"We also honour the competitors who represented their member associations that year with distinction. Curling leaped into the sporting consciousness of the entire world that year, and has continued to ever since, as remarkable television interest and grass roots growth has shown through Salt Lake 2002 and Turin 2006."

The curling legacy remains strong in Karuizawa, a resort community outside Nagano which holds the distinction of being the only city to ever host both Winter and Summer Olympic Games events. Prior to 1998's curling spectacle, the city hosted Equestrian events during the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

In each of the 10 years since the Olympic Winter Games, the city has hosted the Karuizawa International Bonspiel, an invitational tournament organized as part of the annual Karuizawa Winter Festival. Sponsored in part by the Japan Curling Association, this year's tournament begins on February 13 and features 16 teams representing seven
countries.

"We celebrate the great memories of Nagano 1998 and Olympic curling in Karuizawa," said Hiro Saito, WCF Executive Board Member and representative to the Japan Curling Association.

"Since that time, curling has grown very fast in Japan and around the world. It is important to remember and celebrate that pivotal year, that incredible competition."

Huerlimann, the 1998 men's Olympic champion, is now a WCF Executive Board Member.

"The memories are still vivid 10 years later," Huerlimann said.

"I remember the Japanese crowds, they were incredibly loud; sometimes we could not hear ourselves on the ice.

"Winning the gold, climbing the podium, marching in the ceremonies... these are the memories that live forever."