In Switzerland, they won a goat. Now these Aussie curlers want an Olympic medal
“There are bells from goats and cows everywhere and they made this as a reward for themselves and we signed it and we’re happy we did it.”
Welcome to the weird, wonderful world of curling; this is essentially grass bowls on ice for beginners, brooms and infused with complex chess-level tactical nuances.
Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill in action at Beijing 2022.Credit: Getty Images
Signing a contract with a goat was an experience Hewitt and Gill will never forget. But they are keen to create more memories in the pursuit of an Olympic medal, a much more orthodox sporting prize.
Hewitt, 31, and Gill, 26, are doing well. They finished in the top five in every event they competed in at first bar last season. This season, the Australian duo won gold at another competition in Bern, silver at both the Colorado Cup and the Stirling International; In May, they collected a bronze medal at the world championships in Canada; It was the first in history by any Australian curler at this level, but they fell woefully short of direct Olympic qualification.
Their results were enough to propel them to world No. 1 in mixed doubles curling last month; They have since dropped to 9th place, but are expected to be in the mix for a medal at Milan-Cortina 2026 if they qualify for the Olympics at the final qualifying event in Kelowna, Canada, from 13 to 18 December.
That’s quite an achievement, considering their chosen sport, whose origins date back to a frozen lake in Scotland in 1511, is virtually non-existent where they come from. Australia estimates there are fewer than 200 regular curling players, while a single club in North America or Europe can boast more than 1,000 players.
Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt.Credit: access point
He is humbled by his community back home, they are its faces.
There are no curling facilities in Australia. This is played on hockey ice, which is like asking Olympic swimmers to train in a backyard pool.
“The ice is rugged,” Hewitt explained.
“It has hills and valleys and things like that – it doesn’t look like that, it looks very flat, but that’s how it has to be for curl so, so, so straight. And in order to achieve these conditions, we need to be abroad.”
So they spend up to eight months abroad each year, chasing their dreams and racking up expenses that Hewitt thinks would easily be in the six-figure region. They are lucky to have flexible employment situations: he is an exercise physiologist who can take jobs in Australia and Canada, where he is a dual citizen, and Gill is a school outreach teacher who is extremely accommodating and understands his schedule.
“This is what you have to do to be at the top,” Hewitt said.
If they succeed, Milan-Cortina will not be playing their first Olympic match. Hewitt and Gill also qualified for Beijing 2022, becoming the first curlers to represent Australia on that stage, although their experience was colored by the pandemic; They couldn’t mingle with other athletes like at the typical Games, but their efforts to stay Covid-free were so mentally taxing that they say it affected their preparations.
Plus, no matter what they tried, it didn’t work: Gill tested positive while in Beijing and was only able to compete thanks to a late postponement by Chinese health officials, giving him just a few minutes to grab his belongings and head to the curling gym.
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They say that since the last Olympics, and thanks in part to the friendly time zone and television exposure in Australia, general interest in curling has increased rapidly and will increase if hopes for a dedicated rink are realised.
“Instead of people saying, ‘I don’t really know what that is,’ they say, ‘Oh, yeah! I saw that on TV, we had a team,'” Gill said.
“We always see a huge influx of people coming in, trying curling and wanting to get into the sport. [it]. “But the biggest challenge we face is… we don’t have the capacity.”
Hewitt adds: “Australians will really love the concept of the sport. It’s very friendly, it’s a very social sport that can be played by almost everyone of all ages and abilities. I hope we can have this track sooner rather than later.”
