The curling world is in shock today with news originating from Lausanne, headquarters of the International Olympic Committee. Great Britain has suddenly been awarded an Olympic gold medal in curling... 82 years after the fact (photo shows the GB squad in action).
After an investigation launched by the IOC following a media inquiry, it has been ruled that the Olympic curling event held in Chamonix in 1924 was not a demonstration event after all, and has now been declared the real deal. As such, Scotland's Robin Welsh, Willie and Laurence Jackson and Tom Murray will enter the record books as curling's first-ever Olympic gold medallists, a full 74 years before Switzerland's Patrick Hürlimann and Canada's Sandra Schmirler won gold in Nagano.
This is all news to me, said World Curling Federation secretary-general Mike Thomson in an interview with The Curling News.
I've not had time to check this out. However, if it means that curling in Chamonix in 1924 is now being recognized as an Official Winter Sport, we are delighted. It is just a pity it took another 74 years before it appeared as such again.
Obviously this is breaking news, and the ramifications are somewhat unknown, but we'll keep you posted as we uncover more info.
Elsewhere in our never-dull curling Blogsphere:
• PEI's Suzanne Gaudet is back in the Scott TOH, and so is Quebec's Eve Belisle;
• Turin-bound Olympians have descended on Winnipeg... and so has Darth Vader;
• Saskatoon's Stefanie Lawton is now off to provincials, but Sherry Anderson is out;
• The infamous Rudy was spotted over the weekend, as was this family battle and end result;
• A look at curling in Boise, Idaho;
• A feature on British Olympic men's skip David Murdoch;
• Is it or isn't it? A curling crisis, that is? You be the judge.
Finally, it's another federal election day in Canada, and the publisher of The Curling News – not necessarily other staff or contributors – endorses the Conservative Party of Canada.
Why? There's a myriad of reasons... and one media outlet listed a stunning 218 reasons not to vote Liberal!
First and foremost is the obvious: the governing Liberals are old and tired from 13 years of clumsy, corrupt and arrogant, absolute power. Secondly, the Tories simply offer the best platform, and unlike the Libs, actually spent more time promoting that than attacking their opponents... which is, of course, exactly what the Libs did. Third, a vote for anyone other than the Conservatives – except perhaps the Greens – is an obvious vote for fear and loathing. And there's nothing worse for a nation's psyche than its people casting their ballots on fear as opposed to the strength of their convictions.
And if you're grumping that politics has no place on the TCN Blog, how about this: the Grits have treated amateur sport and its clear correlation to the healthcare file with absolute disdain since 1993: with no official amateur sport ministry and a revolving door of inept or ineffective "secretaries". With Vancouver 2010 only four years away, that is reprehensible. Meanwhile, the Tories mentioned sport early in the campaign, offering tax breaks for families with kids who participate in organized sports, and have a potential sport minister-in-waiting. At least that's something.
Finally... Conservative leader Stephen Harper is a huge fan of hockey – he's been writing a book for a year and is a king of hockey trivia – and also Seinfeld, often quoting lines from the TV show with friends and staff. Not sure about you, but that doesn't sound scary at all. It sounds rather hip.
Oh, and in terms of a direct curling connection, see this photo. That's good enough for us.
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