GANGNEUNG, DOWN KOREA - Forget Lindsey Vonn and Adam Rippon. The real rock celebrities on the Pyeongchang Olympics happen to be a simple group of Korean curlers who have no idea they’ve grow to be a world-wide experience.
Many people are known as this “Garlic Girls, ” typically the Southerly Korean women’s curling crew with the fairy story story whoever name demonstrates the in the area famed garlic grown within their hometown. By no means considered some sort of medal contender coming into Pyeongchang, that they have risen to Zero. a single in the rankings, earning globally attention intended for their fierce natural talent in addition to funny individuality.
Yet typically the Garlic cloves Girls have already been pretty much totally sheltered from the global frenzy both by private choice — these people made off their phones in the games to block outdoor attention — and simply by a protective coach who also is keenly which being different is as much a good mental game as a new real one.
South Korea's Kim Seonyeong, left, sweeps snow with a teammate during their match from Russian athletes with the 2018 Winter Olympics throughout Gangneung, South Korea, February. 21 years of age, 2018.
? Famous and they no longer know it
After a new modern match, the women of all ages were rapidly shuffled history waiting reporters, giving press apologetic happiness and hey there of “Anyonghaseyo! 여자 컬링 (hello) before vanishing. None involving them, says coach Kim Min-jung, are conscious the fact that they’ve become famous people.
“I’m sorry that My spouse and i could not bring the athletes today, since I’m worried there will be an excessive amount of stress and burden on them, ” Kim said. “Even typically the crowd is too considering them. ”
That curiosity is understandable. The Garlic clove Girls seem tailor-made with regard to stardom.
The wildly competent underdogs came into typically the Olympics ranked eighth found in the world and gone on to crush curling heavyweights including North america and even Sweden. They are cute and comical, referring to on their own by quirky nicknames for instance “Pancake” and “Steak. ”
Two teammates are siblings and all are longtime friends, creating irresistible chemistry in the ice. The particular team’s “skip, ” or perhaps captain, provides a steely eyes and way-out, owl-eyed drinking glasses that have grow to be hitch for endless Internet memes.
Screaming fans
Numerous Koreans who have never viewed a curling match possess traveled to remote Gangneung to peek at their nation’s new darlings around person.
“I’m very happy of them, ” stated Lee Ji Sunrays, a good 26-year-old who had never ever been inside a curling industry before Wednesday’s match up. “They are showing most of us can do well even inside new sport occasions. ”
Every match offering the team is packed having shouting, flag-fluttering Koreans which step to their feet to brighten on typically the women’s stunningly exact pictures. One fan from the herd Wednesday waved exactly what made an appearance to be a hand-drawn face of skip Ellie Eun-jung with her brand spectacles.
Southerly Korea's might curling workforce celebrate right after beating Russian language athletes in the course of their match at the 2018 Winter Olympics within Gangneung, South Korea, Feb. 21, 2018.
? Late towards the online game of curling
Of which being different has gained any popularity in Korea is definitely unusual in itself. Korea did not even have a workforce within Olympic curling right until the 2014 Sochi Video games.
It took Koreans awhile to wake up to be able to curling, largely because this land lacked sufficient establishments right until recent years, Betty Young, a new curling legend who started this Korean Curling Club 23 years ago, explained by email. Presently, this individual says, Korea has six dedicated curling domains, and lots of schools have curling squads.
In 2006, South Korea’s earliest curling center had been built-in the rural city of Uiseong. Four regarding the five business friends attended Uiseong Women’s Senior high school, exactly where they were on typically the school’s curling team. Uiseong’s standing as the nation’s default curling capital slowly grew, along with the curling heart has published about twelve major residential and foreign curling occasions.
Garlic plus those nicknames
However, right until the women’s team started out their surprise winning skills in Pyeongchang, Uiseong had been better known for it is respected garlic cloves production.
Koreans consider garlic clove a health and fitness foods that boosts strength. Seo Eun Ha, a new 26-year-old Garlic herb Girls admirer, is convinced garlic clove may now have contributed to typically the team’s success. (She furthermore credits the women’s very good teamwork and sturdy associations. )
Like several fans in Gangneung, Seo is very loving of the curlers’ abnormal nicknames: Sunny, Steak, Hot cake, Annie (a brand associated with yogurt) and ChoCho (a sort of cookie).
“I think their particular nicknames go good with their exciting pictures, ” Seo claimed. “I like ‘Steak’ one of the most. It sounds so funny and unique. ”
The nicknames started as some sort of gag over breakfast one working day, said Kim, the mentor. The women ended up talking regarding how complicated it was for some other countries’ athletes to enunciate their own companies at international challenges. All of five team members and the coach also share a similar surname — Kim, that is very common in Korea — making their companies much more confounding for foreigners.
Betty Seon-yeong, who had been eating a new sunny-side-up stir fried egg, joked that your woman could use the brand “Sunny. ” Another females loved the idea. They each opted to nickname their selves after the English words and phrases for his or her favorite breakfast meals, figuring that would always be easier for others to grasp.
Though the women’s crew is getting the most awareness, Korean language fans have got already been heading wild for the men, also. After Wednesday’s men’s go with, the gambler from the Korean team began throwing T-shirts into the crowd, which surged forward with outstretched biceps and triceps.
Kim Heae Darm, a new fan who leaped upward and managed for you to snag a good shirt cruising overhead, forced it to help her face and cried with glee. The woman and then turned to capturing often the interest of Korean combined doubles player Lee Ki-jeong, that scrawled his autograph in her notebook.
Because she struggled to get her breath, she explained her excitement by noticing that Lee was sturdy, casual and “very attractive. ”
As for often the accomplishment with the women’s team, Kim, the founder associated with the curling golf club, could not be prouder. “They happen to be heroes! ” he stated.
Yet the Garlic Ladies do have one obtain: Could be someone could come up with a more relaxing team name for these individuals?
“We would prefer typically the name ‘Team .k, ’” Kim, the discipline, said with a laugh. “Because although our hometown can be Uiseong — which is usually linked to garlic — all of us have simply no connection together with garlic in any way. ”