Olympic gold medalist visits Austin curling tournament – FOX 7 Austin

Olympic gold medalist visits Austin curling tournament

Olympic gold medalist Tyler George stopped by the Pond Hockey Club to offer words of encouragement to participants in the Lone Star Open Bonspiel.

AUSTIN, Texas – Dozens of teams from across the nation are looking to slide their way into first place at this year’s Lone Star Open Bonspiel, a curling tournament. 

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s harder than it looks. There’s a lot of strategy to it and a lot of skill,” said Julie Hoover. 

Hoover has been curling since 2018, and like many others became interested in the sport after watching it at the Olympics. Now it’s something she can’t get enough of. 

DOWNLOAD THE FOX 7 AUSTIN NEWS APP

“The people are just so nice. It’s a lot of fun. Everyone here is just universally nice and we’re all just out here to have a good time together,” said Hoover.

In curling, each team takes turns sending 42-pound stones down the ice to get as close to the bullseye as possible. Only the team with the most stones closest to the bullseye scores that round. The sweeping helps determine just how far and straight the rock will go as it makes its way down the ice.

The tournament is taking place this weekend at The Pond Hockey Club. Olympic gold medalist Tyler George stopped by to offer words of encouragement to those participating. George also has plans to help the sport grow here in Austin this fall.

SIGN UP FOR FOX 7 AUSTIN EMAIL ALERTS

The Lone Star Curling Club said the Olympics play a huge part in interest in the sport, especially following the men’s win in 2018. 

“We have a cycle where every four years the sport gets discovered here in Austin and tons of people come out to learn to curl. The last Olympics we trained over 800 folks on curling,” said club president Joe Glaeser.