Thomas Ulsrud
Thomas Ulsrud | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | 21 October 1971 Oslo, Norway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 24 May 2022 | (aged 50)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Curling club | Snarøen CC, Oslo, NOR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Curling career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
World Championship appearances | 12 (1998, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Championship appearances | 17 (1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Olympic appearances | 3 (2010, 2014, 2018) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Thomas Ulsrud (21 October 1971 – 24 May 2022) was a Norwegian curler from Oslo.[1][2][3] He won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics,[4] one World Curling Championship,[5] two European Curling Championships,[6][7] and fourteen Norwegian titles (Norwegian Men's Curling Championship and Oslo Cup).[8] He was also known for being the skip of the team that competed while wearing colourful harlequin trousers at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Ulsrud's combined showmanship and sportsmanship became iconic and contributed to reviving worldwide interest in curling since then.[9][10][11][12][13][14] In 2024, he was posthumousely inducted into the World Curling Hall of Fame.[15]
Career
Early career
Ulsrud began competing from 1983.[4] In his second World Junior Curling Championship in 1988, Ulsrud skipped Norway to a bronze medal.
In 1997, he skipped in his first European Curling Championships, finishing in seventh place. Team Ulsrud competed again in 2000–2003, 2006–2009, winning bronze in 2002, silver in 2007, and bronze in 2009.[16]
In his first
Between 2007 and 2010, Team Ulsrud won six
2010-2015
At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Team Ulsrud attracted worldwide attention, not only for introducing Loudmouth Golf's colourful harlequin pants to the arena,[9] but also for winning the silver medal after the final game against Canada's Team Kevin Martin.[10]
Immediately at the start of the
Team Ulsrud began the
The rink won a second straight European Championships by winning the gold medal at the
The Ulsrud rink would continue their domination at the European championship by winning the silver medal at both the 2012 and 2013 events. They were less successful at the
The World champion Ulsrud rink began the 2014–15 curling season by winning the first WCT event of the year, the 2014 Baden Masters. That season, he won another silver medal at the 2014 European Curling Championships and won a silver medal at the 2015 World Men's Curling Championship, losing to Sweden's Niklas Edin rink in the final. The next season, Ulsrud led his team to a silver medal at the 2015 European Curling Championships and a disappointing sixth place finish at the 2016 World Men's Curling Championship.
2016-2020
In 2016, Ulsrud won another silver medal at the
In 2018, Ulsrud and his team represented Norway at the
In 2019, after a light curling season where they did not play in any Grand Slam events, Team Ulsrud announced that they would be disbanding at the end of the season.[22][13] In their farewell message, they humorously thanked "Team Niklas Edin, Team David Murdoch, Team Kevin Martin, Team Kevin Koe and Team Sven Michel for turning those nine potential golds into beautiful silver medals".[23] Afterwards, Ulsrud formed a new team with Steffen Walstad, Markus Høiberg and Magnus Vågberg, and they represented Norway at the 2019 European Curling Championships, holding a 5–4 record and missing the playoffs.[24][25] It was Ulsrud's final European Championship appearance. Later in the season, the team finished second at the Norwegian Men's Curling Championship, which was Ulsrud's fifth straight second place finish.
His team were set to represent Norway at the 2020 World Men's Curling Championship but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Torger Nergård rejoined with Ulsrud as third, replacing Walstad, and the team played in only three domestic events because of continuing COVID-19 restrictions. It would be Ulsrud's final season, as he was diagnosed with cancer in December 2020.
Personal life
Ulsrud became interested in curling at age 10 when his stepfather introduced him to the sport.[26] When not being an athlete, Ulsrud was self-employed.[3] He was married to Elin Grødal, and they had one son, Jesper.[3][citation needed]
Ulsrud died on 24 May 2022 from cancer, aged 50.
Teams
Season | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Alternate | Events |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984–85 | Bjørn Ulshagen | Bjarte Nilsen | Terje Strand | Thomas Ulsrud | 1985 WJCC | |
1987–88 | Thomas Ulsrud | Thomas Due | Krister Aanesen | Mads Rygg | 1988 WJCC | |
1988–89 | Thomas Ulsrud | Bent Ånund Ramsfjell | Krister Aanesen | Mads Rygg | 1989 WJCC | |
1991–92 | Thomas Due | Torger Nergård | Mads Rygg | Johan Høstmælingen | Thomas Ulsrud | 1992 WJCC |
1997–98 | Thomas Ulsrud | Johan Høstmælingen | Thomas Due | Torger Nergård | Rolf Andreas Lauten | 1997 ECC |
2000–01 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Thomas Due | Johan Høstmælingen | Flemming Davanger | 2000 ECC |
2002–03 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Thomas Due | Johan Høstmælingen | Thomas Løvold | 2002 ECC |
2003–04 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Thomas Due | Jan Thoresen | Thomas Løvold | 2003 ECC |
2005–06 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Thomas Due | Jan Thoresen | Christoffer Svae | 2006 WCC |
2006–07 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Thomas Due | Jan Thoresen | Christoffer Svae Petter Moe Thomas Løvold |
2006 ECC, 2007 WCC |
2007–08 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Thomas Due | 2007 ECC, 2008 WCC |
2008–09 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Thomas Due Thomas Løvold |
2008 ECC, 2009 WCC |
2009–10 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Thomas Løvold | 2009 ECC, 2010 OG |
2010–11 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Markus Høiberg | 2010 ECC, 2011 WCC |
2011–12 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Markus Høiberg | 2011 ECC, 2012 WCC |
2012–13 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Thomas Løvold Markus Høiberg |
2012 ECC, 2013 WCC |
2013–14 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Markus Høiberg | 2013 ECC, 2014 OG, 2014 WCC |
2014–15 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Sander Rølvåg Markus Høiberg |
2014 ECC, 2015 WCC |
2015–16 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Sander Rølvåg Markus Høiberg |
2015 ECC, 2016 WCC |
2016–17 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Sander Rølvåg | 2016 ECC |
2017–18 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | Sander Rølvåg Markus Høiberg |
2017 ECC, 2018 OG |
2018–19 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Christoffer Svae | Håvard Vad Petersson | ||
2019–20 | Thomas Ulsrud | Steffen Walstad | Markus Høiberg | Magnus Vågberg | Magnus Nedregotten | 2019 ECC |
2020–21 | Thomas Ulsrud | Torger Nergård | Markus Høiberg | Magnus Vågberg |
Grand Slam record
Key | |
---|---|
C | Champion |
F | Lost in Final |
SF | Lost in Semifinal |
QF | Lost in Quarterfinals |
R16 | Lost in the round of 16 |
Q | Did not advance to playoffs |
T2 | Played in Tier 2 event |
DNP | Did not participate in event |
N/A | Not a Grand Slam event that season |
Event | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2012–13 | 2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tour Challenge
|
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | DNP | SF | DNP |
Masters
|
DNP | DNP | Q | SF | Q | Q | Q | Q | Q | Q | DNP | Q |
The National
|
Q | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | QF | Q | DNP | DNP | QF | DNP | DNP |
Canadian Open
|
Q | DNP | QF | SF | Q | DNP | DNP | Q | DNP | DNP | DNP | Q |
Players' Championships
|
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | QF | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
References
- ^ About Team Ulsrud at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-08-23)
- ^ a b Thomas Ulsrud at the Wayback Machine (archived 2011-07-18)
- ^ a b c "Athletes: Thomas Ulsrud". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- ^ a b Thomas Ulsrud, Curling at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-02-23)
- World Curling Federation. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- World Curling Federation. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- World Curling Federation. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- ^ "Thomas Ulsrud: Events". Curling Zone. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- ^ a b Sawyer, Diane. "The conversation: Pants from the curlers of Norway, Diane Sawyer chats with Christoffer Svae from Norway's curling team". ABC News. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
- ^ a b Men's Gold medal game at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-02-26)
- ^ a b "Thomas Ulsrud Obituary". World Curling Federation. 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ Belam, Martin (2018-02-19). "Norway's curlers and their incredible Winter Olympic trousers – ranked". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
- ^ a b Williams, Rob (2019-05-10). "The wacky pants-wearing Norwegian curling team is breaking up". Offside.
- ISBN 9781440868801.
- ^ "World Curling inducts 2024 Hall of Fame recipients". World Curling. 2024-03-31.
- ^ a b Results/Statistics at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-05-06)
- ^ Championships at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-05-12)
- World Curling Federation. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
- ^ "PyeongChang 2018: Curling Men results". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
- ^ "Flamboyant Ulsrud back on the medal trail". International Olympic Committee. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
- ^ Another chance for Walstad – And Ulsrud tries mixed doubles! at the Wayback Machine (archived 2019-05-11)
- ^ Sussman, Matt (2019-05-08). "Thomas Ulsrud's Norwegian team is disbanding after 12 years of curling, 10 years of outrageous pants". Deadspin.
- ^ Karrys, George (2021-03-16). "The Pants farewell anniversary: Will curling fans witness style like that again?". The Curling News. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
- ^ "Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2019". World Curling Federation. 2019-11-23. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
- ^ "Norway forfeits game at European Championships due to broom rule". The Sports Network (TSN). Canada. 2019-11-18. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
- YouTube
- ^ Jarlsbo, Øystein (2022-05-25). "Curling-legenden Thomas Ulsrud er død" [Curling legend Thomas Ulsrud has died]. VG. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ a b "Ulsrud 'Fantastic front figure for our team'". The Curling News. 2022-06-03. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- ^ "Thomas Ulsrud, 1971-2022". The Curling News. 2022-05-22. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
External links
- Thomas Ulsrud on the World Curling database
- Thomas Ulsrud at Olympedia
- Thomas Ulsrud at Olympics.com
- Team Ulsrud (official website) at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 April 2010)
- Team Ulsrud on Facebook
- Olympic Vancouver 2010: Curling playlist on YouTube
- World Curling TV: Norway