WEBVTT - Olympic History on Ice

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<v Speaker 1>Curling is a sport for cold places like Scotland, Canada

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<v Speaker 1>and New Zealand, where it snows in the winter and

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<v Speaker 1>the rivers freeze over. So just how did Australia, the

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<v Speaker 1>driest inhabited continent on Earth and with no dedicated curling

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<v Speaker 1>facilities end up with an Olympic qualifying curling team. Hi,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Tony Armstrong. Welcome to the ballroom where we celebrate

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<v Speaker 1>the winners, losers, and the weird stuff between. If you

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<v Speaker 1>haven't heard of curling, you're not alone. It's a decided

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<v Speaker 1>weird sport, an ancient game that somehow made it into

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<v Speaker 1>the modern world relatively untouched. I'm not going to go

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<v Speaker 1>too deep into the rules here, because, believe me, it's

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<v Speaker 1>surprisingly complicated. What you need to know is that it's

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<v Speaker 1>played on ice by teams of either two or four people.

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<v Speaker 1>They take turns to slide a heavy, polished granite stone

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<v Speaker 1>along the ice towards a target. At the same time,

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<v Speaker 1>their other team members sweep the ice in front of

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<v Speaker 1>the stone using actual brooms. It might sound a little strange,

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<v Speaker 1>but make no mistake, this game requires a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>skill and strategy, so much so that it's often referred

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<v Speaker 1>to as chess on ice, the best players exhibit a

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<v Speaker 1>captivating combination of balance, coordination and grace, and a healthy

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<v Speaker 1>understanding of physics. Hugh Millikin is a curling champion, the

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<v Speaker 1>vice president of the World Curling Federation, and, as you

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<v Speaker 1>might have guessed, a lifelong passionate proponent of the sport.

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<v Speaker 1>So when he moved to Australia from Canada, he was

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<v Speaker 1>shocked to discover there were no dedicated curling facilities in

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<v Speaker 1>the entire country, but he didn't let that deter him.

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<v Speaker 1>Soon after arriving, Hugh helped establish the first Australian curling

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<v Speaker 1>team in the early nineties and became their skipper, the

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<v Speaker 1>team's captain. Fast forward to two thousand and eight. At

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<v Speaker 1>the World Men's Curling Championship, the Aussies broke a record,

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<v Speaker 1>winning five out of six games. At the time, this

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<v Speaker 1>was the most wins ever for an Australian team. It

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<v Speaker 1>also meant they found themselves in the running for something

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<v Speaker 1>that until that point had seemed a far away dream,

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<v Speaker 1>the opportunity to qualify for the twenty ten Winter Olympics.

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<v Speaker 1>This was huge. The Australian team had worked towards this

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<v Speaker 1>goal for years, but it had always seemed so unlikely

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<v Speaker 1>at the time. There are an estimated three hundred curlers

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<v Speaker 1>in Australia, compare that to Canada's one million. The Aussie

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<v Speaker 1>team saw this as an opportunity to raise the sports

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<v Speaker 1>profile at home and let the world know that Australian

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<v Speaker 1>curlers were serious contenders. They enlisted the coaching services of

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<v Speaker 1>Earl Morris, a champion Canadian curler, but without dedicated training

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<v Speaker 1>facilities in Australia, they were forced to travel. When they

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<v Speaker 1>could afford it, They'd fly to Canada to train. Other times,

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<v Speaker 1>New Zealand provided a cheaper option a little closer to home.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite these challenges, things were looking promising. Practice was going

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<v Speaker 1>well and they were improving. Because of Hugh Milliken and

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<v Speaker 1>his team's unrelenting dedication, Australia had gone from having a

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<v Speaker 1>non existent curling team to being within reach of competing

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<v Speaker 1>on the world stage. But then six months out from

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<v Speaker 1>the qualifying round, disaster ruck. All of their curling equipment

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<v Speaker 1>was stolen, including fifty eight stones, costing an estimated twenty

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<v Speaker 1>three thousand dollars for a small team playing a practically

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<v Speaker 1>unknown sport. This financial blow signaled the end of their

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<v Speaker 1>Olympic dreams. They already had to pay for expensive flights

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<v Speaker 1>and accommodation just to train, and now they'd lost all

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<v Speaker 1>their gear. Luckily, they managed to raise the money needed

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<v Speaker 1>to replace most of it, but looking back, that was

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<v Speaker 1>the final straw for Australia's first curling team. When the

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<v Speaker 1>qualifying games came around, the Aussies played with the spirit

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<v Speaker 1>that had got them there, but it just wasn't enough.

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<v Speaker 1>They came tenth, missing the Olympics by half a point.

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<v Speaker 1>For a while, it looked as if Australia's curling dreams

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<v Speaker 1>were over. Hugh Milliken wasn't the only one working hard

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<v Speaker 1>to raise the sports profile down under. Lynn Gill was

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<v Speaker 1>watching the nineteen ninety eight Winter olymp Ex held in

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<v Speaker 1>Japan when she chanced upon the icy game and immediately

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<v Speaker 1>fell in love. Excited to have a go, she called

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<v Speaker 1>up her local ice drink, only to learn what Hugh

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<v Speaker 1>had already discovered. There were no dedicated curling facilities in

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<v Speaker 1>the whole of Australia, least of all in Sydney where

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<v Speaker 1>she was living. In fact, the ice rink she called

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<v Speaker 1>had no idea what curling even was years passed. Lynn

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<v Speaker 1>focused on raising her family, but she couldn't seem to

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<v Speaker 1>get curling out of her head. After moving to Brisbane,

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<v Speaker 1>she decided to try her local ice rinks again. This time,

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<v Speaker 1>the person she spoke to knew what curling was, and

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<v Speaker 1>even better, they knew where she could find stones to

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<v Speaker 1>play with. There just so happened to be a bunch

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<v Speaker 1>gathering dust at a neighboring ice rink. They agreed to

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<v Speaker 1>let a practice if she went and collected the stones

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<v Speaker 1>herself and found a group of people who wanted to play.

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<v Speaker 1>So Lynn now had some equipment and a place to train,

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<v Speaker 1>but she still needed to find other people who wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to join and learn the rules of the game herself.

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<v Speaker 1>This was pre social media, it wasn't exactly easy to

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<v Speaker 1>meet other curling enthusiasts. She started by asking every Canadian

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<v Speaker 1>or Scottish person she met if they knew anything about curling.

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<v Speaker 1>She put adverts in the newspaper and even tried to

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<v Speaker 1>interest her friends and family in the game. Surprisingly it worked.

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<v Speaker 1>Lynn eventually pulled together about fifteen people enough to form

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<v Speaker 1>the Queensland Curling Association, and after receiving just an hour

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<v Speaker 1>of training through a former Scottish champion. Finally Lynn was

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<v Speaker 1>on the ice. It seems sort of risky dedicating all

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<v Speaker 1>those years to a game you've never played. What if

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<v Speaker 1>Lynn ended up hating it? Fortunately, though she loved it.

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<v Speaker 1>Lynn joined the Australian women's curling team, became a curling

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<v Speaker 1>coach and is now the matriarch of one of the

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<v Speaker 1>greatest curling families in Australian history, the Gills. A passion

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<v Speaker 1>for curling is often passed down from parent to child,

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<v Speaker 1>and Australia's current mixed doubles team Dean Hewett and Tari Gill,

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<v Speaker 1>is no exception. Dean Hewitt is the son of Stephen Hewitt,

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<v Speaker 1>who was part of the original Australian curling team alongside

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<v Speaker 1>Hugh Milliken. Tarly Gill, Dean's doubles partner, is Lyn Gill's daughter.

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<v Speaker 1>Their coach, John Morris wait for it, is the son

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<v Speaker 1>of Earl Morris, the coach who worked with the Australian

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<v Speaker 1>team in their bid for the twenty ten Olympic Games.

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<v Speaker 1>In twenty twenty one, at a qualifying event in the Netherlands,

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<v Speaker 1>they made history by being the first ever Australian curling

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<v Speaker 1>team to receive a quota spot for the twenty twenty

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<v Speaker 1>two Winter Olympics. They've now got their sites firmly set

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<v Speaker 1>on the next games in twenty twenty six. In February

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<v Speaker 1>of twenty twenty three, the World Curling Federation announced that

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<v Speaker 1>Australia's curling community had finally got their long awaited wish.

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<v Speaker 1>A d dedicated curling facility will open Integron on Canberra,

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<v Speaker 1>one of Australia's coldest cities. It's due to open in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty five, meaning for the first time ever, Ossie's

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<v Speaker 1>will be able to train on home soil, just in

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<v Speaker 1>time for Tali and Dean to make history once again.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for hanging out in the ballroom, I'm Tony Armstrong

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<v Speaker 1>and you've been listening to an iHeart production. See you

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<v Speaker 1>next time for another story from the wonderful world of sport.

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<v Speaker 1>Catch up