Curling Clowns
Picture from Facebook
Curling is one of the more obscure events in the Winter Olympics, but is still one of the many events where Norwegians seem to excel. The sport and its performers have been victims of stereotyping, but this year the Norwegian curling team have come up with a simple plan to popularise curling.
Pants!
That’s right – the team’s choice of uniform pants has gained massive attention and probably made curling more recognised than ever in the Olympics. The Harlequin-style bottoms have given the team the nickname “Curling Clowns” – and the pants – not the team – now have a Facebook page with nearly 300 000 fans from both Norway and abroad.
On top of all this, the team is doing really well so far in the tournament. If they win, the pants may very well become the next big fashion statement.
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I cheered for the Norwegian Men in the cross-country skiing sprint final. How big are the Olympics in Norway? In England the coverage isn’t huge, nowhere near as much hype as the summer Olympics gets which is a shame. The time difference probably doesn’t help. Would love to get my work visa in time so I can enter Canada before the 28th when the hockey final is held, waited near 2 months in total and trying not to go out of my mind!
Winter Olympics is huge in Norway, so much so that some channels advertise with “Olympic-free-zone” to attract those fed up with all the coverage it gets.
This is most likely tied to our hunger for international success and like Norwegian most I enjoy knowing we just set the world first to achieve 100 gold medals throughout winter olympics history.
In contrast Summer Olympics gets coverage (particularly areas we compete in) but nowhere near the Winter Olympic levels.
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from L-Jay:
Yeah, it’s funny how Norwegians look for things to be famous for – like Renee Zellweger – Norwegian’s tend to claim her as one of their own. Her mum was Norwegian but she is really American but Norwegians classify her as Norwegian because of her mum…lol. It is technically right though, in Norwegian law if your parent is Norwegian then you are considered Norwegian too. But then if she was born in the US and raised there is she really Norwegian?
That sounds fantastic, I wish England would provide more coverage, though as always the BBC have done a good job with what they have shown. I can only begin to imagine how overblown the 2012 Olympics coverage will be in London. When I was in Canada last autumn the channels already had Winter Olympic fever, and apparently had so since about March.
I would understand if people got a bit tired of them if it was a yearly event, but I think having one every 4 years makes it special from a sporting perspective. Athletes really go for it because they know they will only make so many Olympics being at the peak of their career, so they really have to give it absolutely everything and that’s what makes it worth watching!
Well done Norway on the 100 Golds!
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from L-Jay:
Moose never watches sport on TV – he would rather be playing sport himself than watch other people. But when the ski relay was on last night it was a big event – 4×10 relay cross-country. I’m sure all Norwegians were watching and so were we. Norway came in second, after a mighty come back by Norway’s favourite skier – Petter Northug. He surely deserved the gold medal for all the time he had to regain but that’s the way sport goes – skill based on luck.