Rarely Call Them ‘Garlic Girls’: South Korean Curlers Come to be Olympic Rock Stars
GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA - Forget Lindsey Vonn and Adam Rippon. The real rock stars on the Pyeongchang Olympics happen to be a modest group associated with Korean curlers who include no idea they’ve turn into a global sensation.
They are known as this “Garlic Girls, ” the Southern Korean women’s styling team with the fairy story story whoever name reflects the regionally well known garlic grown within their hometown. Never considered a good medal competitor coming into Pyeongchang, that they have risen to Zero. a single in the rankings, earning throughout the world attention with regard to their fierce talent in addition to funny personas.
Yet typically the Garlic Girls are already virtually totally sheltered from the foreign frenzy both simply by individual choice — that they made off their phones throughout the games to block outside consideration — and by means of a shielding coach who else is acutely aware that curling is as much a new psychological game as a new bodily one.
South Korea's The reality star Seonyeong, left, sweeps glaciers with a teammate during their fit from Russian athletes on the 2018 Winter Olympics within Gangneung, South Korea, February. 21, 2018.
? Famous plus they no longer know it
After the latest match, the women were instantly shuffled prior waiting reporters, giving correspondents apologetic happiness and hola of “Anyonghaseyo! ” (hello) before vanishing. None connected with them, says coach Kim Min-jung, are mindful that they’ve become superstars.
“I’m sorry that My spouse and i could hardly bring the athletes these days, because I’m worried right now there will be an excessive amount of force and burden in it, ” Kim said. “Even often the crowd is too serious about them. ”
That fascination is understandable. 컬링 seem tailor-made to get stardom.
The wildly skilled underdogs came into typically the Olympics ranked eighth found in the world and even proceeded to go on to crush styling heavyweights including North america plus Sweden. They are cute and even comical, mentioning to themselves by quirky nicknames like “Pancake” and “Steak. ”
Two teammates are siblings and all are usually longtime close friends, creating remarkable chemistry in the ice. The particular team’s “skip, ” as well as captain, has a steely eyes and some unattractive, owl-eyed glasses that have grow to be hitch for endless World wide web memes.
Screaming fans
Many Koreans who have never noticed a curling match have traveled to remote Gangneung in order to peek at their very own nation’s new darlings throughout person.
“I’m very happy of them, ” mentioned Lee Ji Sunshine, some sort of 26-year-old who had certainly not been inside a styling industry before Wednesday’s fit. “They are showing many of us can do well even inside new sport activities. ”
Every match presenting the particular team is packed using shouting, flag-fluttering Koreans who jump to their legs to cheer on the women’s stunningly accurate images. One fan inside the herd Wednesday waved just what shown up to be a hand-drawn picture of skip .k Eun-jung with her signiture move spectacles.
Sth Korea's might curling staff celebrate after beating Russian athletes during their match on the 2018 Winter Olympics within Gangneung, South Korea, February. twenty-one, 2018.
? Late into the game of curling
That will being different has gained virtually any importance in Korea is usually amazing in itself. Korea did not even have a staff in Olympic curling till the 2014 Sochi Games.
It took Koreans a little bit to wake up for you to curling, largely because the particular state lacked sufficient facilities until finally recent years, Betty Young, a good curling tale who started this Korean language Curling Club 23 years ago, explained by email. Nowadays, they says, Korea has six dedicated curling arenas, and several schools have curling clubs.
In 2006, South Korea’s very first curling center has been built in the rural area of Uiseong. Four associated with the five associates attended Uiseong Women’s Senior high school, exactly where they were on the particular school’s curling team. Uiseong’s standing as the nation’s default curling capital slowly and gradually grew, plus the curling centre has hosted about eighteen major home and global curling occasions.
Garlic in addition to those nicknames
Even now, until finally the women’s team begun their surprise winning skills in Pyeongchang, Uiseong was better known for the legendary garlic clove production.
Koreans think of garlic clove a well being food that boosts endurance. Search engine marketing Eun Ha, a good 26-year-old Garlic clove Girls enthusiast, states garlic may now have contributed to typically the team’s success. (She furthermore credits the women’s good team-work and robust romantic relationships. )
Like several enthusiasts with Gangneung, Seo is specially attached to of the curlers’ abnormal nicknames: Sunny, Steak, Hot cake, Annie (a brand of yogurt) and ChoCho (a form of cookie).
“I imagine his or her nicknames go in fact with their exciting pictures, ” Seo claimed. “I like ‘Steak’ by far the most. The idea sounds so funny and even unique. ”
The nicknames started as a good fun over breakfast one working day, said Kim, the train. The ladies had been talking with regards to how hard it has been for other countries’ sports athletes to pronounce his or her brands 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 names a lot more confounding for foreigners.
Ellie Seon-yeong, who seemed to be eating a good sunny-side-up stir fried egg, joked that the woman could go by the brand “Sunny. ” One other girls loved the idea. They each opted to nickname their selves after the English words with regard to their favorite breakfast foods, foreseeing that would become easier for others to hold.
Although the women’s team is getting the nearly all focus, Korean language fans possess been recently going wild regarding the men, too. Following Wednesday’s men’s complement, the gambler from the Korean team began throwing Tshirts into the crowd, which will increased forward with outstretched biceps and triceps.
Kim Heae Darm, the fan who leaped right up and managed to be able to snag some sort of shirt going overhead, pushed it to be able to her face and even screamed with glee. Your woman next turned to capturing typically the attention of Korean combined doubles player Lee Ki-jeong, who scrawled his autograph in her notebook.
Because she struggled to find her breath, she discussed her excitement by writing that Lee was tough, athletic and “very good-looking. ”
As for this achievements in the women’s team, Kim, the founder of the curling team, couldn’t be prouder. “They usually are heroes! ” he or she explained.
Yet the Garlic Girls do have one obtain: Probably someone could are available up with a more relaxing team name for them?
“We would prefer often the name ‘Team Betty, ’” Kim, the mentor, said with a laugh. “Because although our hometown is definitely Uiseong — which is related to garlic — many of us have no connection along with garlic at all. ”