SYDNEY, Australia 鈥� There is a photograph from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics that captured curling fans鈥� hearts worldwide. In it, arms draped around each others鈥� shoulders, grinning faces inches apart, beer cans mid-clink.
It was a moment that perfectly captured the spirit of curling, a sport best known for its sweeping but perhaps best loved for its socializing. Yet it is a moment that will likely be impossible to repeat in the socially distanced world of the Beijing Games.
鈥淥ne of the things I love about curling is being able to curl against my friends and then enjoy a weekend or a week around them, as well as playing cards and having a beer,鈥� said Morris, who won the gold medal in mixed doubles in Pyeongchang and is hoping to do the same in Beijing. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the best part of curling. On the ice is great, and that accomplishes my competitive drive, but the actual going to cool places, playing with and against your friends 鈥� that鈥檚 been really hard.鈥�
Of all of COVID-19鈥檚 cruelties, the necessity of distance has caused particular angst throughout the curling community. This is a sport built around closeness, from the pregame handshakes between opponents, to the postgame drinking sessions, in which the winners typically buy the losers a round. That tradition, dubbed 鈥渂roomstacking鈥� for the original practice of opponents stacking their brooms in front of a fire after a game and sharing a drink, all but vanished after the coronavirus emerged.
Curling competitions were canceled. Ice rinks where the athletes trained were shut down. And curlers, like much of the world, were forced into isolation.
The Beijing Games are taking place inside an accommodation and transport bubble that is cut off from the rest of the city. The International Olympic Committee鈥檚 playbook warns athletes to stay at least 2 meters (6 feet) apart except during competition and to minimize any physical interactions 鈥渟uch as hugs, high-fives and handshakes鈥� 鈥� common sights at curling matches. The stakes for slip-ups are huge; and could miss their event altogether.
Bye-bye, broomstacking.
鈥淎ll that鈥檚 gone away, and that鈥檚 a real challenge,鈥� said Hugh Millikin, a vice president with the World Curling Federation. 鈥淵ou touch fists or elbows, but it鈥檚 just not the same and it doesn鈥檛 necessarily get you that connection with your opposition which is really the cornerstone of what curling鈥檚 about. I certainly have worries about how soon we can get back to it.鈥�
On the ice, the coronavirus also forced changes, Millikin said. Training sessions were adjusted to limit the number of sweepers to one at a time, instead of the usual two. While curlers typically cluster around the house 鈥� the bullseye-shaped target at the end of the ice sheet 鈥� they had to stand apart. And some curling clubs required players to practice in masks, which is difficult given the vigorous sweeping and frequent shouting the game requires, Millikin said.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e sweeping pretty hard, you鈥檙e breathing pretty hard, too,鈥� he said.
The closure of ice rinks forced many curlers to come up with creative training solutions. Two-time Canadian women鈥檚 curling champion Kerri Einarson practiced on a homemade rink on Lake Winnipeg, a throwback to curling鈥檚 conception 500 years ago on the frozen ponds of Scotland. Einarson鈥檚 father and a neighbor cleared a patch of ice on the lake鈥檚 surface and drilled in a chunk of wood to serve as a hack, the block that curlers push off from before gliding down the ice.
Pandemic-related store closures meant there was nowhere to buy paint, so they were unable to mark the ice with a target. Still, the experience proved cathartic for Einarson, who struggled with the lack of socializing.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 even celebrate wins with anyone after we were in the bubble,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 really feel like winning, which is tough. Even afterwards when you get home, you couldn鈥檛 even go and celebrate with your friends and family. It didn鈥檛 feel like curling at all.鈥�
For the U.S. Olympic curling teams, the cancellation of crucial competitions was the biggest stressor, said Dean Gemmell, director of curling development at USA Curling. For long stretches, all they could do was practice, and even that was tough. Players from Minnesota and Wisconsin had to travel long distances to find open rinks, on top of juggling their jobs and families.
The teams engaged in scrimmages with each other, but those don鈥檛 prepare players for the Olympics the way real competitions do, Gemmell said.
鈥淎 big part is just learning how to control your emotions in events that matter,鈥� he said.
Yet despite the yearning many curlers feel for their sport鈥檚 beer-sharing days of yore, curling鈥檚 social aspect is precisely what makes it so risky during a pandemic. who played in a curling tournament that suffered a COVID-19 outbreak found a key transmission route appeared to have occurred off the ice, at the curlers鈥� buffet lunches. Of the 18 teams participating, only one team avoided contracting the virus 鈥� and that was the team that shunned the lunches and other social events.
, a member of Australia鈥檚 first curling team to make it to the Olympics. On Sunday, the Australian Olympic Committee announced Gill and her teammate were being forced to withdraw after Gill, who had the coronavirus before the Games, returned a series of positive tests. But later in the day, the committee said the medical expert panel had determined Gill鈥檚 levels fell within an acceptable range, and the Australians were allowed to compete, going on to win their first game of the Olympics against Switzerland.
Before heading to Beijing, Gill said she and many other curlers were just grateful that some competitions were eventually able to go ahead but that the isolation had taken a toll.
鈥淐urling is such a family,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 slowly getting back to the new normal, I guess. I don鈥檛 know if it will ever be the same again.鈥�
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Kristen Gelineau, The Associated Press
