Canadian and Swedes to be inducted into World Curling Hall of Fame
The World Curling Federation will induct its second elite curling team, and first women’s curling team, into its Hall of Fame in 2020 – Sweden’s Team Elisabet Gustafson, the four time World Women’s Curling Championship gold medallists.
Another two recipients, Canada’s Gordon Craig and Sweden’s Leif Öhman, will be inducted as Builders. With their work in television and ice making respectively, this pair have been instrumental in establishing the current status of curling in the world of sport.
World Curling Federation President Kate Caithness said: “Congratulations to our World Curling Hall of Fame 2020 inductees. I’m looking forward to presenting each of them, along with Scotland’s Mike Thomson – who was a 2019 inductee – with the Elmer Freytag award at upcoming and future world championships.
“The influence Team Gustafson, Leif and Gordon have had on our sport, in their respective fields and countries and across the world has set strong foundations for the developments that ultimately saw curling accepted into the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”
Team Elisabet Gustafson (Sweden) – Athletes
Elisabet Gustafson, is already a member of the World Curling Hall of Fame. She was inducted in 2012. With this announcement, the remainder of her team, third Katarina Nyberg, second Louise Marmont and lead Elisabeth Persson join her in being bestowed with the World Curling Federation’s highest non-playing honour.
Gustafson’s Swedish team won the World Women’s Curling Championship in 1992, 1995, 1998 and 1999. They also won bronze medals at the Olympic Winter Games Nagano 1998, in Japan, and have four European Curling Championship titles to their names – 1992, 1993, 1997 and 2000.
In 2017, Ernie, Arnold, Garnet and Wes Richardson of Canada, were the first complete international curling team to be inducted.
Gordon Craig (Canada) – Builder
Gordon Craig was the visionary behind Canada’s dedicated sports channel, The Sports Network, or TSN. He was influential in the first television broadcasts of the World Men’s Curling Championship and the Canadian men’s national curling championship, The Brier, in the 1960s, while at the Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC). At CBC, Craig started as a worker in the mailroom and ascended the ranks all the way to Head of Sports.
He was influential in achieving wall-to-wall coverage on the CBC of the Olympic Summer Games Montreal 1976, a move which has set the standard for Games coverage ever since.
After leaving CBC, Craig founded TSN, Canada’s first 24-hour sports channel. Then, under the umbrella of NetStar Communications founded Réseau des sports (RDS) – a 24-hour French language sports network – Discovery Channel Canada and the production company, Dome Productions, who are still involved with the production of international curling events today.
In 2016, Craig was a recipient of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours.
Leif Öhman (Sweden) – Builder
Sweden’s Leif Öhman has been vital in the development of dedicated curling ice since the 1980s. He is an individual that has pursued new knowledge and technologies to enhance the quality of elite curling ice.
Just as is widely acknowledged for athletes, participating at Olympics and Paralympics is the height of an individual’s career. Öhman’s success can be measured by his Olympic appointments. He was Chief Ice Technician at three Olympic Winter Games – Nagano 1998, Salt Lake City 2002 and Torino 2006. Furthermore, he was Technical Delegate at Salt Lake City, Torino, in Russia at Sochi 2014 and the last Games, in South Korea, at PyeongChang 2018.
In addition, he was the Chief Ice Technician at eight World Curling Championships – women’s, men’s and juniors – between 1985 and 2005. However, it’s not just his work at the elite level that merits his induction, it’s his tireless efforts passing on his knowledge to others. Notably, spending many years as an instructor at the annual Ice Technician courses in Fuessen, Germany.
To find out more about the World Curling Hall of Fame click here.
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Pictures of Team Gustafson are part of an archive gifted to the World Curling Federation and credit information is unknown. If you believe you know who the credit belongs to please contact [email protected]
