Battle of generations in women's Olympic curling

Staff reports Modified: February 9, 2014 at 7:05 am •  Published: February 9, 2014

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — The women's Olympic curling tournament is shaping up as more than just a fight for gold. It's also a battle of the generations.

In one corner is the modern face of curling, 23-year-old team captains Eve Muirhead of Britain and Anna Sidorova of Russia. Both are as much at home in a photo shoot or with sports psychologists as they are out on the ice.

In the other corner are battle-hardened veterans Jennifer Jones of Canada, Erika Brown of the United States and Mirjam Ott of Switzerland, rival skips aged 39 to 42 trying to keep pace with the youngsters and the growing professionalism in the sport.

The next two weeks will determine where the power lies in curling.

"There is a new generation coming through," said the 42-year-old Ott, who is taking time off from her bank job in Lenzburg, Switzerland, to compete in Sochi. "They curl and do nothing else anymore.

"We still have our jobs but we have the advantage of our experience — you still have good chances even if you are a little bit older."

The contrast in generations will be most stark when the U.S. takes on Britain on Tuesday in their second games of the round-robin stage.

In Ann Swisshelm, the U.S. has a 45-year-old player who is the oldest member of her country's vast Olympic contingent. Britain's equivalent in the lead position — the player who throws the team's first two stones — will be Claire Hamilton, who is less than half Swisshelm's age.

"I love that we play a sport that's pretty forgiving to age," Swisshelm said. "I think very few sports in the world are like that."

Don't think for one minute, however, that Swisshelm and other members of the older generation aren't embracing curling's new era. Gone are the days of the 1980s when curlers used to fire up a cigarette during competition and could barely do a sit-up.

Muirhead, for example, spends as much time lifting weights as she does throwing rocks. As full-time athletes backed by government and lottery funding of 5 million pounds ($8.2 million) over an Olympic cycle, the British have sports psychologists and strength and conditioning coaches. They are current world champions and favorites for gold in Sochi.

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