Olympic Curlers Forced to Hike Through Snow to Reach Competition Venue

Heavy snowfall in Italy created transportation chaos for Olympic curling teams, forcing athletes to abandon their rides and walk through snow to reach the venue. U.S. and Canadian teams still made it to their semifinal matches despite the weather delays.

Olympic curling athletes found themselves trekking through snow-covered streets Thursday when severe weather conditions brought transportation to a standstill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

The American women’s curling squad, led by Tabitha Peterson, secured their semifinal berth with a 7-6 victory over Switzerland, but getting to the venue proved challenging.

“We had to grab a taxi and then get out halfway through and walk in the snow. But we made it in time,” explained team member Taylor Anderson-Heide.

“It probably took like an hour longer. We were okay. We got here an hour early, so we were still good. We like to leave nice and early.”

This wasn’t Anderson-Heide’s teammate Cory Thiesse’s first snowy walk to competition. She experienced similar conditions during her mixed doubles event, where she earned a silver medal alongside partner Korey Dropkin.

“Before Korey and I played, I think it was the gold medal game, the same thing happened. We just got off the bus and walked down the hill,” Thiesse recalled.

“We did the same thing today. In these scenarios, you just roll with the punches and expect unexpected things to happen. I’m really proud of us for not letting it kind of affect us at all.”

Olympic officials pushed back the women’s final round-robin matches and men’s semifinal games by half an hour due to the transportation difficulties.

Canadian team captain Rachel Homan, whose squad advanced to the semifinals after defeating South Korea, described being trapped on a bus for an hour.

“Obviously, the game was delayed, some teams didn’t even make it for practice, but it was great of the officials to recognise that,” Homan said.

“It’s not fun. We tried to leave early and the bus that we tried to get on had already left. We tried to get on an earlier bus, but you can’t predict an hour in the snow.”

Canadian coach Heather Nedohin managed to find some levity in the weather-related complications.

“I think the ski athletes are thinking, ‘it’s an indoor sport and you’re delayed by snow? How does that work for you guys?’,” Nedohin joked.

“It was a winter wonderland.”