Norway curlers continue loud pants tradition
Norwegian curling is changing the way the sport thinks about pants one tournament at a time.
At last month’s Winter Games, the Norwegian men’s curling team created a stir when they showed up wearing very bright red, white and blue diamond-patterned pants.
The pants, made by Loudmouth Golf, were so popular that they became a must-have item during the Olympics. There is a Facebook group of more than 600-thousand people praising their move to add some extra colour to the sport.
In the Paralympic wheelchair competition, the men and women representing Norway have tried to one up their compatriots. They showed up at the Paralympics in pants that are just as, if not more, loud.
“It was (Thomas) Ulsrud’s (idea), I think,” said Norwegian skip Rune Lorentsen, referring to the skip of the men’s Olympic team who was part of the first team to wear outrageous pants.
“Also, the juniors in the world championship wear this type so we had to follow up.”
The pants in question are a teal green, blue, black and white colour in a plaid pattern. While the Norwegians pants at the Olympics matched their country’s flag, the pants worn by the Paralympic team seem to go more with the colour of the blue and green rings of the ice at the Vancouver Paralympic Centre.
Lorentsen confirmed that these pants are made by the same company as their able-bodied compatriots’ famous leggings, and the same company made famous by golfer John Daly.
The Olympic team gave Norwegian King Harald a pair of the popular clothing during the Olympics but he was probably the only person who wasn’t taken by them. King Harald won’t be in Vancouver for the Paralympics but his daughter, Princess Martha, will and Lorentsen says he hopes to have the chance to give her a pair.
“I hope so,” he said when asked about the opportunity. “She’ll wear them too, I promise that.”
They seem to have their supporters, too. Canadian skip Jim Armstrong seems to like them. When Armstrong came around to reporters after his Canadian team beat Norway, the first thing he did was make sure reporters had asked Lorentsen about his pants.
This could just be the beginning for Norway’s Paralympic curlers. Lorentsen says they could come out with more than just the one pair they wore for the first time at the third draw in Vancouver.
“We just have this pattern now, but if we want we can have more,” he said with a wink.
Source: CTOlympics.ca
