Olympic History on Ice

haven't heard of curling, you're not alone. It's a decided weird sport, an ancient game that somehow made it into the modern world relatively untouched. I'm not going to go too deep into the rules here, because, believe me, it's surprisingly complicated. What you need to know is that it's played on ice by teams of either two or four people. They take turns to slide a heavy, polished granite stone along the ice towards a target. At the same time, their other team members sweep the ice in front of

the stone using actual brooms. It might sound a little strange, but make no mistake, this game requires a lot of skill and strategy, so much so that it's often referred to as chess on ice, the best players exhibit a captivating combination of balance, coordination and grace, and a healthy understanding of physics. Hugh Millikin is a curling champion, the vice president of the World Curling Federation, and, as you might have guessed, a lifelong passionate proponent of the sport.

So when he moved to Australia from Canada, he was shocked to discover there were no dedicated curling facilities in the entire country, but he didn't let that deter him. Soon after arriving, Hugh helped establish the first Australian curling team in the early nineties and became their skipper, the team's captain. Fast forward to two thousand and eight. At the World Men's Curling Championship, the Aussies broke a record, winning five out of six games. At the time, this

was the most wins ever for an Australian team. It also meant they found themselves in the running for something that until that point had seemed a far away dream, the opportunity to qualify for the twenty ten Winter Olympics. This was huge. The Australian team had worked towards this goal for years, but it had always seemed so unlikely at the time. There are an estimated three hundred curlers

in Australia, compare that to Canada's one million. The Aussie team saw this as an opportunity to raise the sports profile at home and let the world know that Australian curlers were serious contenders. They enlisted the coaching services of Earl Morris, a champion Canadian curler, but without dedicated training facilities in Australia, they were forced to travel. When they could afford it, They'd fly to Canada to train. Other times, New Zealand provided a cheaper option a little closer to home.

Despite these challenges, things were looking promising. Practice was going well and they were improving. Because of Hugh Milliken and his team's unrelenting dedication, Australia had gone from having a non existent curling team to being within reach of competing on the world stage. But then six months out from

the qualifying round, disaster ruck. All of their curling equipment was stolen, including fifty eight stones, costing an estimated twenty three thousand dollars for a small team playing a practically unknown sport. This financial blow signaled the end of their Olympic dreams. They already had to pay for expensive flights and accommodation just to train, and now they'd lost all their gear. Luckily, they managed to raise the money needed to replace most of it, but looking back, that was

the final straw for Australia's first curling team. When the qualifying games came around, the Aussies played with the spirit that had got them there, but it just wasn't enough. They came tenth, missing the Olympics by half a point. For a while, it looked as if Australia's curling dreams were over. Hugh Milliken wasn't the only one working hard

to raise the sports profile down under. Lynn Gill was watching the nineteen ninety eight Winter olymp Ex held in Japan when she chanced upon the icy game and immediately fell in love. Excited to have a go, she called up her local ice drink, only to learn what Hugh had already discovered. There were no dedicated curling facilities in the whole of Australia, least of all in Sydney where she was living. In fact, the ice rink she called

had no idea what curling even was years passed. Lynn focused on raising her family, but she couldn't seem to get curling out of her head. After moving to Brisbane, she decided to try her local ice rinks again. This time, the person she spoke to knew what curling was, and even better, they knew where she could find stones to play with. There just so happened to be a bunch

gathering dust at a neighboring ice rink. They agreed to let a practice if she went and collected the stones herself and found a group of people who wanted to play. So Lynn now had some equipment and a place to train, but she still needed to find other people who wanted to join and learn the rules of the game herself. This was pre social media, it wasn't exactly easy to

meet other curling enthusiasts. She started by asking every Canadian or Scottish person she met if they knew anything about curling. She put adverts in the newspaper and even tried to interest her friends and family in the game. Surprisingly it worked. Lynn eventually pulled together about fifteen people enough to form the Queensland Curling Association, and after receiving just an hour of training through a former Scottish champion. Finally Lynn was

on the ice. It seems sort of risky dedicating all those years to a game you've never played. What if Lynn ended up hating it? Fortunately, though she loved it. Lynn joined the Australian women's curling team, became a curling coach and is now the matriarch of one of the greatest curling families in Australian history, the Gills. A passion for curling is often passed down from parent to child, and Australia's current mixed doubles team Dean Hewett and Tari Gill,

is no exception. Dean Hewitt is the son of Stephen Hewitt, who was part of the original Australian curling team alongside Hugh Milliken. Tarly Gill, Dean's doubles partner, is Lyn Gill's daughter. Their coach, John Morris wait for it, is the son of Earl Morris, the coach who worked with the Australian team in their bid for the twenty ten Olympic Games.

In twenty twenty one, at a qualifying event in the Netherlands, they made history by being the first ever Australian curling team to receive a quota spot for the twenty twenty two Winter Olympics. They've now got their sites firmly set on the next games in twenty twenty six. In February of twenty twenty three, the World Curling Federation announced that Australia's curling community had finally got their long awaited wish. A d dedicated curling facility will open Integron on Canberra,

one of Australia's coldest cities. It's due to open in twenty twenty five, meaning for the first time ever, Ossie's will be able to train on home soil, just in time for Tali and Dean to make history once again. Thanks for hanging out in the ballroom, I'm Tony Armstrong and you've been listening to an iHeart production. See you next time for another story from the wonderful world of sport. Catch up