Big-name athletes are giving Olympic curling a boost by lending both their star power and locker-room motivational techniques.
Retired track and field star Carl Lewis became the latest from another sport to try to fire up a US men’s curling team that has sputtered at the Vancouver Games.
The nine-time Olympic gold medalist showed up for Sunday’s match against Britain and gave the curlers a pre-game pep talk to remind them that they were Olympians just like him.
PHOTO: AFP
Lewis, 48, was a fast man who said he developed a fondness for the decidedly un-quick sport about eight years ago. He followed Vernon Davis, tight end with the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers and the team’s honorary skip, who helped motivate the squad last week.
“What I hope they can learn, because there’s something similar to all athletes, it’s hard work, dedication, focus. If you don’t have those things it doesn’t work in anything,” said Lewis, who equated the hack from which curlers push themselves down the ice to starting blocks on the running track. “I hope that I can give them that, and relax them a little bit and at the end of the day just give them some insight.”
In the end, it was not enough to lift the US to a win over the Brits. They now have only the faintest hope of making the playoffs.
No matter, said team member John Benton, who appreciated the talk and added profile Lewis’ presence gives the game of brooms and rocks, which is still often viewed as a curiosity.
“More than anything it brings a little bit more legitimacy to the sport of curling for the US viewers,” Benton said. “For them to know that people of that stature are participating in the sport, it’s really nice. It brings it up a notch.”
Teams on a roll, such as Canada, are also humbled by attention from outside their discipline. The team won their game against Switzerland on Sunday to improve their record to 7-0 and secure a playoff berth.
On Saturday, they were thrilled when they spotted Wayne Gretzky in the Vancouver Olympic Centre crowd. Earlier, the ice hockey great sent captain Kevin Martin a note congratulating him and promising to show up for a game.
“He said, ‘Congrats on a good start,’ and ‘Fun to watch,’” Canada team member Marc Kennedy said. “He’s the epitome of Canada right there. If you’ve got that guy supporting you, you know you’re doing good.”
■SCREAMER NO MORE
AFP, VANCOUVER
China’s world champion curlers edged closer to the Olympic Games knockout rounds on Sunday, but skipper Wang Bingyu has screamed and cajoled her team so much that she has been left speechless.
“She’s done. It’s her throat. She couldn’t speak to teammates in meetings,” China’s Canadian coach Dan Rafael said.
China sit third in the table with five wins and two defeats in the 10-nation group after handing section leaders Canada their first loss.
“I keep telling them, it’s like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. For the first five ends, I don’t think anyone could beat us,” Rafael said of his team’s inconsistency. “Canada had some misses and we were able to capitalize. It’s a bad habit — when other teams miss, we miss too.”
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS