Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Martin Belam

The wrong trousers? Norway’s plain display disappoints curling fans

Torger Nergaard and Markus Hoeiberg of Norway in their boring trousers.
Torger Nergaard and Markus Hoeiberg of Norway in their boring trousers. Photograph: Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

A grand, recent tradition of the Winter Olympics has bitten the dust after Norway’s men’s curling team took to the ice on Wednesday for their opening match in Beijing wearing plain dark blue trousers. In recent Games the elaborate designs on their trousers – often referred to as pants in American English usage – had become a highlight of the curling competition.

The 2022 Norwegian men’s curling team had even teased supporters with a social media post in January saying: “We’re counting down the days, and so is our wardrobe it seems,” with a video of them in training wearing rather nondescript uniforms.

Some had interpreted that as a cryptic clue that there would be a dramatic reveal of the team’s trousers when they opened their campaign with a round-robin match against Switzerland in Beijing. But it was not to be.

Over the years, the outlandish trousers have proved such a hit with fans that there is even a Facebook page dedicated to the Norwegian Olympic Curling Team’s Pants, with nearly half a million likes.

The team’s penchant for standing out on the ice began when Thomas Ulsrud first skippered them at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He went on to lead them again at Sochi in 2014 and at Pyeongchang in 2018.

Great Britain’s David Murdoch looks on as Norway play their stone during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Great Britain’s David Murdoch looks on as Norway play their stone during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Photograph: PA Wire/PA
Norway wore this Jackson Pollock-inspired effort at the Sochi 2014 Games.
Norway wore this Jackson Pollock-inspired effort at the Sochi 2014 Games. Photograph: Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA

At each Olympics Norway’s curlers would arrive with a different set of trousers for each match, showcasing myriad eye-bursting designs. The team’s retirement in 2019 was marked on social media by the World Curling Federation, with them suggesting there were only two words to describe their contribution to the sport – “the pants”.

After they retired, Ulsrud recalled on social media that before the Vancouver Olympics “we spent the whole pre-camp discussing if [the trousers] was a good move, or if we would end up as clowns,” concluding that they “ended up with both maybe”.

Although the Ulsrud team claimed a world gold in 2014, and two European titles in 2010 and 2011, the trousers have not proved to be a particularly lucky Olympic omen. Norway achieved the silver medal when they first wore them in 2010, but have not appeared on the podium since. This year’s team of Steffen Walstad, Torger Nergaard, Markus Hoeiberg, Magnus Vaagberg and Magnus Nedregotten will hope to improve that record. They opened their campaign on Wednesday with a 7-4 victory over Switzerland.

Hoeiberg is a veteran of the trousers-era, having competed in 2014 and 2018, and was part of the squad that played their match against Japan, scheduled to be on Valentine’s Day in Pyeongchang in 2018, in red-and-pink love heart-themed trousers.

Norway play Japan on Valentines Day at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Norway play Japan on Valentines Day at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

As well as the trousers, the new Norway team have a lot to live up to. The Ulsrud team were nothing if not entertainers. During the world men’s finals in Nova Scotia in 2015, facing an impossible situation in the final end on the way to defeat by Sweden, Ulsrud opted to roll his final stone on its side, drawing laughter from the crowd, his teammates and opponents.

The suits the team wore for Sochi 2014 (from left) Thomas Ulsrud, Torgor Nergard, Christoffer Svae, and Havard Vad Petersson.
The suits the team wore for Sochi 2014 (from left) Thomas Ulsrud, Torgor Nergard, Christoffer Svae, and Havard Vad Petersson. Photograph: Cassie Kovacevich/AP
These psychedelic flower trousers made an appearance on the ice at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.
These psychedelic flower trousers made an appearance on the ice at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. Photograph: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

The men’s curling competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics lasts from 9 February until the gold-medal match on Saturday 19 February, one of the last sporting actions of the Games. And one that sadly won’t feature colourful trousers, no matter how far Norway progress.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.