Cortina Awakens To Embrace Competitive Curling Couples And Vonn’s Valiant Gold Bid | Andy Bull

The sun rises precocious successful Cortina d’Ampezzo, for illustration everything other successful this small alpine town. It’s gone 8 o’clock successful nan greeting by nan clip nan daylight has made it complete nan precocious peaks to nan east, and it’s different 2 hours from that earlier nan Olympic time gets nether way.

It’s slow out, arsenic if everyone’s still sleeping disconnected nan nighttime before, erstwhile nan municipality was retired cheering for nan athletes arsenic they made their parade astir nan square. The constabulary are still packing distant each nan railings, and nan thoroughfare sweeps are brushing up nan confetti. Non c’è fretta. No one’s successful a rush. Maybe your autobus will move up, but nary one’s making immoderate promises.

Fortunately, you don’t request it for nan curling, which is only a short walk. They built this arena for nan past Olympics here, backmost successful 1956, erstwhile it was nan venue for nan fig skating title and, for illustration everything other astir town, it’s looking very well-dressed. It’s each bare wood and achromatic and achromatic photographs from nan 1950s.

All nan group dressing successful Cortina has an creation deco touch, nan spot happily backmost successful different era, earlier anyone had to interest astir nan 21st century. It feels for illustration a municipality clip forgot, and which nan financial situation didn’t touch. Louis Vuitton is here, truthful is Prada. There’s a pop-up Dior shop pinch an eight-foot crystal sculpture retired front.

There are 2 curling fixtures astatine 10am, round-robin matches successful nan mixed doubles, 2 Swedish siblings are playing a joined mates from Switzerland successful one, and nan Great British brace of Bruce Mouat and Jenn Dodds are playing different joined mates from Canada connected nan other. The Canadians, Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman, started making love aft they decided to shape a squad to effort to suffice for nan Olympics successful Pyeongchang 8 years ago. There are a batch of joined couples competing successful mixed curling. Must beryllium thing successful each that stiff water.

“Harder!” Peterman screams astatine Gallant arsenic he vigorously pumps his broom, “Harder! Keep going! Keep going! Yes! Yes!” It doesn’t do them immoderate good. Everyone other mightiness still beryllium figuring retired what’s what connected time one, but nan curlers person been present for almost a week already.

The sliding centre, which overlooks Cortina d’Ampezzo, was vanished conscionable successful clip for nan Games, but nary 1 seems to person sewage astir to building immoderate accommodation astir it. Photograph: Al Bello/Getty Images

Their competitions tally connected truthful agelong that this 1 started connected nan Wednesday earlier nan opening ceremony, and Mouat and Dodds person been dominating nan competition. They had already won each their first 5 matches and aft Mouat put them 3-0 pinch his hammer successful nan very first extremity against Canada, it was clear their winning streak was astir to scope six. They yet won 7-5.

Mouat is nan most-feared competitor successful nan sport. The 31-year-old is nan 1 each nan others talk astir successful awed whispers. The time before, Snoop Dogg asked him for a selfie. “I’ve heard astir you,” Snoop told him. Later on, Mouat and Dodds hit nan antecedently undefeated USA duo 8-6, too, which intends they person already qualified for nan semi-finals. “How galore times are they playing today?” asked a German photographer erstwhile they came backmost retired connected to nan ice. “And doubly much tomorrow, too,” I told him. “Christ,” he replied. “This is worse than cricket.”

Tune successful again connected Tuesday evening, erstwhile they will beryllium playing for medals. Till then, nan women’s skiathlon is 3 hours’ thrust successful 1 direction, nan women’s skis jump 3 hours successful different and nan crystal hockey, fig skating and freestyle skiing successful different parts of nan state altogether.

But nan women’s alpine is only a 15-minute autobus thrust retired of municipality up into nan mountains. They’re holding nan third, and last, time of training runs earlier nan women’s downhill. It’s not instantly clear that nan skiing group and nan curling organization are a portion of nan aforesaid species, fto unsocial nan aforesaid sporting event. Curling is nan slowest, astir meditative athletics successful nan Olympics and contempt nan champion efforts of a gaggle of 4 enthusiastic Swiss, was taking spot almost wholly successful silence.

Britain’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds compete against nan USA’s Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse. Photograph: David J Phillip/AP

Up connected nan mountain, they’re pumping retired House of Pain complete nan nationalist reside strategy while nan women travel screaming down nan upland astatine nan benignant of speeds that make you nauseous from watching.

They had to cancel nan first time of training because of nan weather, and nan fog is closing successful again connected Saturday, but they person clip to get a fistful of racers away. Everyone wants to spot Lindsey Vonn, competing successful her last Olympics aft coming retired of a five-year retirement. The 41-year-old American is racing successful a brace aft she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament successful her near knee past week. An ACL is apparently thing she tin get by good without.

She vanished successful 1min 38.28sec, 3rd fastest connected nan day, down her USA teammate Breezy Johnson. There was a infinitesimal erstwhile her knee buckled connected an early jump. Everyone watching winced successful worry. But Vonn sped on. She didn’t moreover look to extremity to dependable herself.

There whitethorn not beryllium different athletics retired location wherever nan competitors are brushing up arsenic adjacent against nan separator of what’s imaginable arsenic they look to do successful downhill skiing. Vonn’s title against Johnson, Germany’s Emma Aicher and nan awesome Italian Sofia Goggia, who won golden backmost successful 2018, whitethorn conscionable beryllium nan awesome title of nan full Games.

Better viewing, for sure, than nan men’s singles luge title backmost down astatine nan sliding centre. They vanished this conscionable successful clip for nan Games, but nary 1 seems to person sewage astir to building immoderate of nan accommodation astir it. So nan crowd tumbled up and down nan elevation looking for a spot to guidelines and watch from.

For specified a accelerated sport, it’s a very slow watch. Which mightiness beryllium why everyone who knows what they’re doing has started drinking already. There were 2 races and nan title stretched connected agelong into nan evening arsenic nan sun started to dip down backmost into nan vale complete nan different broadside of nan mountain, nan measurement things look astir here, nan nights conscionable mightiness beryllium nan busiest clip of day.