It’s the first Olympics for McFarland’s Nina Roth, skip for the USA curling team.
We need the Winter Olympics now more than ever. Sure, the United States likely will bring home plenty of gold, silver and bronze. But moguls, halfpipes and double axels also will provide a welcome distraction from collusion, immigration and midterm
Curling is getting its day in the sun with the brother-sister team of Matt and Becca Hamilton of McFarland also heading to the Olympics as part of Team USA.
elections.
The festivities open Feb. 9 in PyeongChang, South Korea, about 60 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone separating that country from North Korea. New events this year include big air snowboarding, freestyle skiing and mass start speedskating, which join a handful of other additions to the games in recent years aimed at attracting younger demographics.
Another new sport for 2018 is mixed doubles curling and will feature the McFarland brother-sister team of Matt and Becca Hamilton. Matt also will compete with the U.S. men’s team, and Becca will join fellow McFarland resident Nina Roth on the U.S. women’s team. All three are members of the Madison Curling Club.
Additionally, fellow Madison Curling Club members Kirk Black and Justin Marshall will represent Team USA at the Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang from March 9-18.
Curlers won’t be the Winter Olympics’ only Madison connection, though. Far from it, in fact, as Wisconsin continues a long-held tradition of sending athletes to the games.
Several past and present University of Wisconsin hockey players also will take to the ice. They include four former Badgers skating for the U.S. women’s hockey team. Meghan Duggan and Hilary Knight will participate in their third Olympics, and Brianna Decker will return for a second time. Meanwhile, this will be Alex Rigsby’s first Olympics.
Justin Marshall (left) and Kirk Black will represent Team USA at the Paralympic Winter Games.
Another three former Badgers women’s hockey players (Ann-Renée Desbiens, Meaghan Mikkelson, Sarah Nurse and Blayre Turnbull) and one current player (Emily Clark) will represent Team Canada. So will a pair of former UW men’s hockey players (Rene
Former Badger Alex Rigsby plays goalie for Team USA.
Bourque and Cody Goloubef).
And let’s not forget about Badgers men’s hockey coach Tony Granato, who will lead Team USA, with former Badgers and Olympian Chris Chelios as one of his assistants. This isn’t Granato’s first Olympics, either; he was an assistant coach at the 2014 games and played for the United States in 1988.
Regardless of how Team USA finishes, these Olympics could be bittersweet for Granato. Jim Johannson — assistant executive director of USA Hockey and a member of UW’s 1983 NCAA championship team — passed away in his sleep Jan. 21 at age 53; he was the man who convinced Granato to take this gig.
