Just days after 2002 Olympic champion Pål Trulsen made his retirement official – he and his team bade farewell in Winnipeg and received the Asham WCT Ambassador Award – comes word that Dordi Nordby (photo), Norway’s jovial queen of curling, has announced her retirement, after participating in three Olympic Games, 10 World Championships and 22 European Championships.“It is time others show their mettle,” Nordby told Norway’s Aftenposten.
“I will always be a part of curling, but my time on the rink is over.”
The two-time global champion in 1990 and 1991, Nordby made a spirited run at the recent 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, losing the semi-final and the bronze-medal game to finish fourth.
At December’s 2006 Le Gruyére European Championships in Basel, Nordby’s Norwegian team finished near the bottom of the standings, failing to qualify her country for the upcoming World Women’s Curling Championships in Aomori, Japan.
“The high point of my career was when we won the World Championships in 1991 after extra rounds, in front of a (crowd of) 17,000 in Canada,” said Nordby.
The longtime skip – a member of Norway’s national team since the end of the 1980s – also dedicates her work life to the sport, managing the Snarøen Curling Club in Oslo, where she helps train future generations of Norwegian athletes.
On a personal note, Dordi has been a blast to quote or chat with over the years. She’s quick with a quip and funny as all heck. A true character, the likes of which are few and far between in international women’s curling... and she will be missed.
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