Norwegian curler and Olympic medalist (1971?2022)
Thomas Ulsrud
|
---|
|
|
Born
| (
1971-10-21
)
21 October 1971
|
---|
Died
| 24 May 2022
(2022-05-24)
(aged 50)
|
---|
|
Curling club
| Snarøen CC
,
Oslo
,
NOR
|
---|
|
World Championship
appearances
| 12 (1998, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
|
---|
European Championship
appearances
| 17 (1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)
|
---|
Olympic
appearances
| 3 (2010, 2014, 2018)
|
---|
|
Thomas Ulsrud
(21 October 1971 ? 24 May 2022) was a Norwegian
curler
from
Oslo
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
He won a silver medal at the
2010 Winter Olympics
,
[4]
one
World Curling Championship
,
[5]
two
European Curling Championships
,
[6]
[7]
and fourteen Norwegian titles (
Norwegian Men's Curling Championship
and
Oslo Cup
).
[8]
He was also known for being the
skip
of the team that competed while wearing colourful harlequin trousers at the
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
. Team Ulsrud's combined showmanship and sportsmanship became iconic and contributed to reviving worldwide interest in curling since then.
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
In 2024, he was posthumousely inducted into the
World Curling Hall of Fame
.
[15]
Career
[
edit
]
Early career
[
edit
]
Ulsrud began competing from 1983.
[4]
In his second
World Junior Curling Championship
in 1988, Ulsrud skipped Norway to a bronze medal.
In 1997, he skipped in his first
European Curling Championships
, finishing in seventh place. Team Ulsrud competed again in 2000?2003, 2006?2009, winning bronze in 2002, silver in 2007, and bronze in 2009.
[16]
In his first
World Curling Championship
in 1998, Ulsrud skipped Norway to fifth place. After serving as the alternate for
Pal Trulsen
's team in 1999, he returned again as skip in 2006?2009, making the playoffs for the first time in
2006
and then defeated USA's
Team Pete Fenson
to win the bronze medal. Two more bronze medals followed in
2008
and
2009
.
[17]
Between 2007 and 2010, Team Ulsrud won six
World Curling Tour
events, namely, the 2007 and 2009
Lucerne Curling Trophies
,
2008 Baden Masters
, 2008
Radisson SAS Oslo Cup
, 2009
Swiss Cup Basel
, and 2009
Bern Open
.
[2]
2010-2015
[
edit
]
At the
2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics
, Team Ulsrud attracted worldwide attention, not only for introducing
Loudmouth Golf
's colourful harlequin pants to the arena,
[9]
but also for winning the silver medal after the final game against Canada's
Team Kevin Martin
.
[10]
Immediately at the start of the
2010 World Curling Championship
in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Ulsrud had to return home for family reasons. With
Torger Nergard
acting as skip, Ulsrud's teammates took first place at the end of round-robin games (10?1 score) and won the silver medal.
[18]
Team Ulsrud began the
2010-11 curling season
by winning their first
European Curling Championship
gold medal in Champery, Switzerland.
[16]
The team topped the season off by finishing fourth at the
2011 Ford World Men's Curling Championship
.
The rink won a second straight European Championships by winning the gold medal at the
2011 European Curling Championships
. Later that season they would once again finish 4th at the
2012 World Men's Curling Championship
. That season, the team won one WCT event, the 2012
European Masters
.
The Ulsrud rink would continue their domination at the European championship by winning the silver medal at both the 2012 and 2013 events. They were less successful at the
2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship
, finishing in 5th place. The rink represented Norway once again at the
2014 Winter Olympics
, where they finished 5th, with a 5-5 record. They lost in a tie-breaker match to Great Britain, skipped by
David Murdoch
. On the World Curling Tour, the team won one event in 2013-14, the
2013 Swiss Cup Basel
. The team capped off their season by winning a gold medal at the
2014 World Men's Curling Championship
.
The World champion Ulsrud rink began the
2014?15 curling season
by winning the first WCT event of the year, the
2014 Baden Masters
. That season, he won another silver medal at the
2014 European Curling Championships
and won a silver medal at the
2015 World Men's Curling Championship
, losing to Sweden's
Niklas Edin
rink in the final. The next season, Ulsrud led his team to a silver medal at the
2015 European Curling Championships
and a disappointing sixth place finish at the
2016 World Men's Curling Championship
.
2016-2020
[
edit
]
In 2016, Ulsrud won another silver medal at the
European Curling Championships
, which he followed up by winning the
Qinghai China Men's International
on the tour the next month. Later in the season, he lost in a best-of-five challenge against
Steffen Walstad
which would have qualified his team for the 2017 World Championships. Team Ulsrud did get to represent Norway one last time at the
2017 European Curling Championships
, where they finished in fourth place.
In 2018, Ulsrud and his team represented Norway at the
PyeongChang Winter Olympics
, placing sixth.
[19]
[20]
They began the
2018?19 curling season
by winning the
Baden Masters
for the third time in their career. Ulsrud paired up with
Kristin Skaslien
at the
third leg of the 2018?19 Curling World Cup
in the mixed doubles event. The pair made it to the final, losing to Canada's
Kadriana Sahaidak
and
Colton Lott
. It was Ulsrud's first experience in mixed doubles.
[21]
In 2019, after a light curling season where they did not play in any Grand Slam events, Team Ulsrud announced that they would be disbanding at the end of the season.
[22]
[13]
In their farewell message, they humorously thanked "Team Niklas Edin, Team David Murdoch, Team Kevin Martin, Team Kevin Koe and Team Sven Michel for turning those nine potential golds into beautiful silver medals".
[23]
Afterwards, Ulsrud formed a new team with
Steffen Walstad
,
Markus Høiberg
and
Magnus Vagberg
, and they represented Norway at the
2019 European Curling Championships
, holding a 5?4 record and missing the playoffs.
[24]
[25]
It was Ulsrud's final European Championship appearance. Later in the season, the team finished second at the
Norwegian Men's Curling Championship
, which was Ulsrud's fifth straight second place finish.
His team were set to represent Norway at the
2020 World Men's Curling Championship
but it was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
.
Torger Nergard
rejoined with Ulsrud as third, replacing Walstad, and the team played in only three domestic events because of continuing COVID-19 restrictions. It would be Ulsrud's final season, as he was diagnosed with cancer in December 2020.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Ulsrud became interested in curling at age 10 when his stepfather introduced him to the sport.
[26]
When not being an athlete, Ulsrud was self-employed.
[3]
He was married to Elin Grødal, and they had one son, Jesper.
[3]
[
citation needed
]
Ulsrud died on 24 May 2022 from cancer, aged 50.
[27]
A memorial service was held on 3 June 2022 at
Ullern Church
, Oslo.
[28]
His former teammates remembered him for his friendship and his "inclusiveness" during their years of travelling and competing together.
[28]
Tributes also came from the
World Curling Federation
, notably, President and Scottish curler,
Kate Caithness
, who praised Ulsrud and Team Norway for raising the status and popularity of curling, "They were huge ambassadors for the sport".
[11]
[29]
Teams
[
edit
]
Season
|
Skip
|
Third
|
Second
|
Lead
|
Alternate
|
Events
|
1984?85
|
Bjørn Ulshagen
|
Bjarte Nilsen
|
Terje Strand
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
|
1985
WJCC
|
1987?88
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Thomas Due
|
Krister Aanesen
|
Mads Rygg
|
|
1988
WJCC
|
1988?89
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Bent Anund Ramsfjell
|
Krister Aanesen
|
Mads Rygg
|
|
1989
WJCC
|
1991?92
|
Thomas Due
|
Torger Nergard
|
Mads Rygg
|
Johan Høstmælingen
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
1992
WJCC
|
1997?98
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Johan Høstmælingen
|
Thomas Due
|
Torger Nergard
|
Rolf Andreas Lauten
|
1997
ECC
|
2000?01
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Thomas Due
|
Johan Høstmælingen
|
Flemming Davanger
|
2000
ECC
|
2002?03
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Thomas Due
|
Johan Høstmælingen
|
Thomas Løvold
|
2002
ECC
|
2003?04
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Thomas Due
|
Jan Thoresen
|
Thomas Løvold
|
2003
ECC
|
2005?06
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Thomas Due
|
Jan Thoresen
|
Christoffer Svae
|
2006
WCC
|
2006?07
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Thomas Due
|
Jan Thoresen
|
Christoffer Svae
Petter Moe
Thomas Løvold
|
2006
ECC
, 2007
WCC
|
2007?08
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Thomas Due
|
2007
ECC
, 2008
WCC
|
2008?09
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Thomas Due
Thomas Løvold
|
2008
ECC
, 2009
WCC
|
2009?10
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Thomas Løvold
|
2009
ECC
, 2010
OG
|
2010?11
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Markus Høiberg
|
2010
ECC
, 2011
WCC
|
2011?12
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Markus Høiberg
|
2011
ECC
, 2012
WCC
|
2012?13
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Thomas Løvold
Markus Høiberg
|
2012
ECC
, 2013
WCC
|
2013?14
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Markus Høiberg
|
2013
ECC
, 2014
OG
, 2014
WCC
|
2014?15
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Sander Rølvag
Markus Høiberg
|
2014
ECC
, 2015
WCC
|
2015?16
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Sander Rølvag
Markus Høiberg
|
2015
ECC
, 2016
WCC
|
2016?17
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Sander Rølvag
|
2016
ECC
|
2017?18
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
Sander Rølvag
Markus Høiberg
|
2017
ECC
,
2018 OG
|
2018?19
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Christoffer Svae
|
Havard Vad Petersson
|
|
|
2019?20
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Steffen Walstad
|
Markus Høiberg
|
Magnus Vagberg
|
Magnus Nedregotten
|
2019
ECC
|
2020?21
|
Thomas Ulsrud
|
Torger Nergard
|
Markus Høiberg
|
Magnus Vagberg
|
|
|
Grand Slam record
[
edit
]
Key
|
C
|
Champion
|
F
|
Lost in Final
|
SF
|
Lost in Semifinal
|
QF
|
Lost in Quarterfinals
|
R16
|
Lost in the round of 16
|
Q
|
Did not advance to playoffs
|
T2
|
Played in Tier 2 event
|
DNP
|
Did not participate in event
|
N/A
|
Not a Grand Slam event that season
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
About Team Ulsrud
at the
Wayback Machine
(archived 2010-08-23)
- ^
a
b
Thomas Ulsrud
at the
Wayback Machine
(archived 2011-07-18)
- ^
a
b
c
"Athletes: Thomas Ulsrud"
.
Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi
. Retrieved
2022-10-15
.
- ^
a
b
Thomas Ulsrud, Curling
at the
Wayback Machine
(archived 2010-02-23)
- ^
"CPT World Men's Curling Championship 2014"
.
World Curling Federation
. Retrieved
2022-10-15
.
- ^
"Le Gruyere European Curling Championships 2010"
.
World Curling Federation
. Retrieved
2022-10-15
.
- ^
"Le Gruyere European Curling Championships 2011"
.
World Curling Federation
. Retrieved
2022-10-15
.
- ^
"Thomas Ulsrud: Events"
.
Curling Zone
. Retrieved
2022-10-15
.
- ^
a
b
Sawyer, Diane.
"The conversation: Pants from the curlers of Norway, Diane Sawyer chats with Christoffer Svae from Norway's curling team"
.
ABC News
. Retrieved
2010-02-26
.
- ^
a
b
Men's Gold medal game
at the
Wayback Machine
(archived 2010-02-26)
- ^
a
b
"Thomas Ulsrud Obituary"
.
World Curling Federation
. 2022-05-22
. Retrieved
2022-10-13
.
- ^
Belam, Martin (2018-02-19).
"Norway's curlers and their incredible Winter Olympic trousers ? ranked"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
2022-10-16
.
- ^
a
b
Williams, Rob (2019-05-10).
"The wacky pants-wearing Norwegian curling team is breaking up"
.
Offside
.
- ^
Schwartz, David Asa (2021).
Modern sports around the world: History, geography, and sociology
. California, United States: ABC-CLIO. p. 95.
ISBN
9781440868801
.
- ^
"World Curling inducts 2024 Hall of Fame recipients"
.
World Curling
. 2024-03-31.
- ^
a
b
Results/Statistics
at the
Wayback Machine
(archived 2010-05-06)
- ^
Championships
at the
Wayback Machine
(archived 2010-05-12)
- ^
"Capitol One World Men's Championship ? Day 6"
.
World Curling Federation
. Retrieved
2010-04-08
.
- ^
"PyeongChang 2018: Curling Men results"
.
International Olympic Committee
. Retrieved
2022-10-16
.
- ^
"Flamboyant Ulsrud back on the medal trail"
.
International Olympic Committee
. 2021-03-31
. Retrieved
2022-10-16
.
- ^
Another chance for Walstad ? And Ulsrud tries mixed doubles!
at the
Wayback Machine
(archived 2019-05-11)
- ^
Sussman, Matt (2019-05-08).
"Thomas Ulsrud's Norwegian team is disbanding after 12 years of curling, 10 years of outrageous pants"
.
Deadspin
.
- ^
Karrys, George (2021-03-16).
"The Pants farewell anniversary: Will curling fans witness style like that again?"
.
The Curling News
. Retrieved
2022-10-16
.
- ^
"Le Gruyere AOP European Curling Championships 2019"
.
World Curling Federation
. 2019-11-23
. Retrieved
2022-10-16
.
- ^
"Norway forfeits game at European Championships due to broom rule"
.
The Sports Network (TSN)
. Canada. 2019-11-18
. Retrieved
2022-10-16
.
- ^
Thomas Ulsrud - Skip - Team Norway (2010 & 2011 European Champions)
on
YouTube
- ^
Jarlsbo, Øystein (2022-05-25).
"Curling-legenden Thomas Ulsrud er død"
[Curling legend Thomas Ulsrud has died].
VG
. Retrieved
2022-10-13
.
- ^
a
b
"Ulsrud 'Fantastic front figure for our team'
"
.
The Curling News
. 2022-06-03
. Retrieved
2022-10-13
.
- ^
"Thomas Ulsrud, 1971-2022"
.
The Curling News
. 2022-05-22
. Retrieved
2022-10-14
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Year: (nation's flag) champion
skip
|
|