Curling-Estonia's mixed doubles pair hungry for more after landmark win

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 5 - Estonia's Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill made history on Thursday by recording their country's first-ever Olympic curling victory, but the pioneering pair are already hungry for more success at the Milano Cortina Games.

Kaldvee and Lill, who are the first curlers to represent Estonia at the Winter Olympics, lost their opening two matches in the mixed doubles competition in Cortina d'Ampezzo before recording a 7-5 win over Sweden's Isabella and Rasmus Wrana.

The game was a rematch of the mixed doubles World Championship final in 2024, in which the Swedes emerged victorious.

"I think our message (to people in Estonia) is that we want to win more games. It's nice to win, of course, but we're really proud for the team effort," said Lill, 34.

"It's not easy to lose the two first games and then go against the opponent you played in the World Championship final and lost to. Marie played well. We won... Lots of good things. I think we managed to raise our quality a bit for this game.

"I think curling is growing (in Estonia). We only have one curling rink, so that's really holding us back. But hopefully there will be more places where we can curl in the future."

Asked if the win would serve to raise the profile of the sport in Estonia, 31-year-old Kaldvee said: "Now they probably know more about it than they did before.

"I guess we have been in the media for the last few years, so I think they might know what it is and that Estonians are doing it."

Estonia, seventh in the round-robin standings, next face Olympic champions Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner of Italy on Friday. REUTERS