PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Anette Norberg sees great potential in Swedish curling at the elite level.
But the curling icon also has some worries about the future of the sport.
– We lose a lot of people on the way there, says Norberg to Sportbibeln.
Annette Norberg is one of Sweden’s best curling players of all time. With her two Olympic gold medals, nine WC medals and twelve EC medals, she is also one of the world’s most meritorious curlers ever. If there’s anyone who has something to say when it comes to curling, it’s Anette Norberg!
Norberg’s tribute
And what she has to say is largely positive. Anette pays tribute to Swedish curling at the elite level.
– If we look at Swedish women’s curling, if we only look with an elite perspective, it looks fantastic. Now we got a new team that will play in the EC because Anna (Hasselborg) and them (Team Hasselborg) lost the qualifier, and they are actually very similar in the world rankings, the two teams. Then we have another team now, which is 18, so they are still juniors for three more years, but are very talented, says Anette Norberg to Sportbibeln.
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Anette continues the tribute:
– As far as the new mixed doubles discipline is concerned, it also looks good. That’s it my daughter (Theresa Westman) plays, among other things. But there we also have combinations of these established players who are also good at mixed doubles.
Mixed Doubles is played in teams of two players, one woman and one man. Mixed doubles in curling has been on the Olympic program since 2018.
Saw the gentlemen
Had you made the national team today?
– No, it doesn’t work, not in my specific position. Obviously, I could go in and play a game in a team without completely removing myself, absolutely. But not over time, and not during a season. It wouldn’t work.
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Although there are many talented curlers on the women’s side and Anette sees a lot of positive things about Swedish curling today, there are a few things she worries about.
– On the men’s side, we are down in the b-WC both on the junior side. Behind Niklas (Edin) and them (Team Edin) – it’s probably a team now that in any case is starting to climb reasonably high in the world ranking – but then there are few. Above all, the fact that we are so bad both on the junior side and on the men’s side is a concern, says the curling icon.
READ MORE: Anette Norberg’s big confession about her curling career – the icon still can’t understand it today: “It’s strange”
Anette’s proposal
What do you think these differences between boys’ and girls’ curling are due to?
– Based on the fact that I have sat on SOK’s board and also watched other sports, this is a challenge that several sports see. That there are more girls who are willing to bet today than there are boys. Then what it depends on, I dare not comment on that. Because we have always been successful on both the women’s and men’s side, sometimes that can be a reason. That you have several role models. But it’s not like that in curling, we have great merit on both the men’s and women’s side. I wish I knew, it’s easier to fix if you know what’s causing it, but unfortunately I don’t.
Anette has no solution to the gender equality problem in Swedish curling, but she has a proposal that would improve the sport.
– We need to become more curlers. There are still few who are doing it, and to create an elite you also need to have a breadth and a structure. The big problem with curling is precisely that you keep doing it for so long up in age, so the transition from being young and promising to actually becoming Sweden’s best team, that stretch is usually so long that we lose a lot of people on the way there . And it is a challenge that we need to learn to handle.
READ MORE: Anette Norberg is now putting her foot down – that’s why she will never accept Masked Singer: “Forbidden me”
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