Curling-Fancy pants Norway pay tribute to Ulsrud at Winter Games

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 17 - Norway's men's curling team delighted supporters at the Olympics on Tuesday by reviving the famous red, white and blue-patterned trousers that became a sensation 16 years ago when they were worn by Thomas Ulsrud's team.

The eye-catching pants, originally part of a sponsorship deal with sportswear company Loudmouth Golf, turned heads and captured hearts at Vancouver 2010, when Ulsrud's Norwegian rink became the talk of the Winter Games.

"When we qualified for the Olympics, it was always in the back of our minds, 'Oh, we should really bring back the pants'," Norway skip Magnus Ramsfjell said.

"We had the compromise that one game, honouring the whole Ulsrud team and wearing the fully Norwegian outfits out there on the ice, that would be just amazing for all parties."

The pants have achieved cult status in curling circles, with a Facebook page titled 'The Norwegian Olympic Curling Team's Pants' boasting over 360,000 followers.

Asked what it was about the pants that captivated fans, Ramsfjell said: "It's something about curling being a bit silly, and then people showing up looking a bit silly.

"I feel like it's a perfect synergy."

ULSRUD TRIBUTE

Ulsrud's teams continued to dazzle with their sartorial choices at the 2014 and 2018 Games, and a few other tournaments, before his death from cancer in 2022 aged 50.

"Thomas was an incredible guy, incredible curler," Ramsfjell said. "The passion for curling is something that I wish everyone can try to carry forward. Just his energy in general, just fantastic, fun, and an amazing curler."

The pants fittingly made their Olympic comeback in a game against Sweden's Niklas Edin, who competed with Ulsrud in 2010 and at the time light-heartedly joked about the Norwegians looking like "four clowns coming up and down the ice".

Asked about the pants, he said: "Team Ulsrud, they were some of our best friends for the better part of two decades out there. This new Norwegian team is the same, to be honest. They're super nice personalities.

"They (Ulsrud) had probably a hundred different kinds (of pants) back in the day, they had a little bit of a sponsorship going. Every game they had new pants with new silly details.

"That was the only team that could wear those kind of pants and still look kind of sharp. We always had a good laugh on that, and yeah, fantastic memories with those teams." REUTERS