Retired high-performance competitor Ryan Fry of Canada has been named coach of the Italian national men's curling team. The former Team Homan coach, who won winter Olympic gold with Brad Jacobs in 2014 and competed at his 14th Brier in March before announcing his retirement, will work with Joel Returner's Italian men's team.
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Team Returners have impressed since finishing with the medals at Beijing 2022 - although third Amos Moaners scored an unexpected gold in the mixed doubles event. Moaners continued to hit the Curling Care calendar, which was followed by some great team performances on the ice, leading to the team's first Grand Slam tournament victory.
Curling has been an important part of my life and I have achieved great things thanks to the many challenges I have faced throughout my career Fry said in a FISG statement.I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to bring my experience and knowledge to support FISG.
The team is aiming for a level of absolute excellence and I am proud to contribute to this ambitious journey towards the next winter Olympic at home field.
Curling will be contested at the Winter Olympic - Milano Cortina 2026 with Italian teams confirmed for the men's, women's and mixed doubles events as the host nation. In the same announcement, Claudio Persia was confirmed as head of Italian curling's high performance program.
Ryan Fry Named Coach of Italian Men's Curling Team Ahead of winter Olympic Milano-Cortina 2026
I think it's a great opportunity for the boys to work with Ryan who has a ton of experience, and he can definitely add some value to the trip to Winter Olympic - Milano Cortina 2026 Persia told The Curling News. It is also important that Joel now has a designated team coach. Persia served dual duties as program director and men's team coach prior to Fry's appointment.
Being in charge of the entire program, which includes women's, mixed doubles and juniors, didn't allow me to focus 100 percent on the men's team. Persia said. I am confident that Ryan is a great motivator and will bring a further boost to the team, and he is excited to work alongside me to reach the next level.
Despite the team achieving good results and rising in the rankings, there is still a long way to go until the Winter Olympic in 2026. Expectations are high here after the mixed doubles gold in Beijing and also because Italy is the host country. We must use all possible resources. You can Read Winter Olympic Milano Cortina 2026: Officials Chosen for 2026 Olympic Curling
On the women's side, the foursome skipped by winter Olympic mixed doubles champion Stefanie Constantine will see Marco Marini assist continuing head coach Violate Caldara. It previously announced that Marini, the long-time Italian curling coach who recently worked with Chinese athletes at Beijing 2022, will also coach Italy's national youth team.
I'm happy to return home. I still am a FISG man said Marini. We will work significantly on promoting the youth level and I will do my best to make the experience of the last few years available on the international field.
Eve Moorhead: Winter Olympic curling champion fighting to keep rinks open
Ayer last month closed its doors and Scottish curling says the country's remaining 21 rinks face unprecedented challenges amid rising inflation and energy costs. Moorhead, Scotland's most accomplished curler, retired last summer.
It's a tough time for curling and quite unsettling she told BBC Scotland. But I want to be pretty positive about that as well because I think we can keep fighting to save these rinks.
The number one problem is energy costs and it's not just ice rinks, everybody is really struggling right now financially. And building an ice rink is quite expensive.
We need to look at the big picture and try to get more money into that side of sport. That's when you look to the government for a bit of help as well. Sport should put quite far up the agenda, not just on the back burner.
Moorhead Advocates for Support as Scottish Curling Faces Financial Struggles
For ourselves to win winter Olympic gold, along with the boys and win silver, we have love to have left a bit of a legacy to help more people get involved in the sport. The last thing we want is for rinks to close their doors Moorhead added.
Now I'm not a competitive athlete, I'm on the other side so I can probably see a lot more angles that I didn't see when I was competing." It gives me even more emotion to fight to save the sport, because when you're an athlete, you take it for granted.
I know Scottish Curling is working very hard to keep these rinks open. The same with us athletes as curlers the same with the public - you don't just look at curling, you look at ice skating, ice hockey, a lot of these places nused in the summer also for various events.
I believe we all need to unite as a group and do everything we can to protect our sport of curling. Having grown up in the sport and knowing how important it is to Scotland and to many people in the UK, it's important that we save it.
Kenya's fledgling curlers set sights on Winter Olympic 2026 game
This will motivate more African members WCF president Kate Cattiness predicted. Kenya Curling Federation 2021 President Lamenter Gouts, meanwhile, is already targeting a spot at the next Winter Olympic.
It's a long shot, only the second African country to play curling can give us a chance to qualify for the Winter Olympic 2026 nougat insisted in comments reporte the state-run China Daily. However, this all hinges on our preparations and support from the government.
Kenya's budding curlers have using a gym floor to practice sweeping rocks as the country's only ice rink close due to the coronavirus pandemic. The challenge of bringing a winter sport to Kenya inspires me said Gouts, a former rugby player. the injury forced her to miss Rio 2016.
It opens up a whole new horizon for us because we don't experience winter. The team has already defeated Denmark 7-5 in a friendly match. Kenya is naturally a talented sporting nation insisted team member Haggai Odhiambo Zuma, according to China Daily.
Kenya's Curling Ambitions Grow as Team Eyes Winter Olympic 2026 Qualification
As a soccer goalkeeper in Kenya, he had tried rugby and kabaddi before settling on curling. It had been necessary for the team to create a GoFundMe page on the Internet to raise money for a training trip to the United States, and officials and team members are hoping for government support in the future.
Kenya's first Winter Olympian was cross-country skier Philip Boat, a former runner who competed in Nagano in 1998 and went on to become a three-time Winter Olympic. Sabrina Simmered, an alpine skier who competed in super-G and giant slalom at Pyeongchang 2018 was the first Kenyan woman to compete in the Winter Olympic Games.
An increasing number of athletes from non-traditional winter countries have sent athletes to the Winter Olympic since the Jamaican bobsled team broke ground in Calgary in 1988. It doesn't matter which country; diversity beautiful thing team member Dudley Stokes said this week.
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