CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Dig out your squidgy mop, a few pots and pans — or a robotic vacuum if you have one — and a pair of slippers.
It’s curling time!
Social media has been ablaze with people deploying common household wares to mimic what the world’s top curlers are doing at the Winter Olympics.
“Every four years, it blows up,” American curler Tara Peterson said. “Everyone’s like, ‘We want to do it,’ and then, yes, they get creative with things, so it’s awesome.”
Creative is perhaps an understatement. In one video, two jacketed adults push a baby in a car seat across the ice, chest-bumping in glee. In another, popular Swedish comedian Mans Moller dons a wig a la Isabella Wrana, the Swedish mixed doubles champion, and slides pans into other pans, screaming “CUUUURL!” (Bonus points: He's outside, like the olden days of curling.)
Then there are the Italian nonnas in the country's southern Puglia region pushing a silver pot along a stony courtyard, sweeping with broomsticks. Or the hair salon in the Swedish city of Sundsvall, where a stylist hurls hair products toward her colleague. She screams “Curl!” and looks frustrated when the colleague approaches with a — wait for it — curling iron.
Despite such valiant attempts by the public, curlers say you really do need some specialized equipment to do the sport properly (along with a sheet of pebbled ice).
You can't use your normal sneakers to go curling. You'll just slip a lot on the ice. Instead, you'll need specialist curling shoes that have grips either built into the soles or those that can be strapped on.
Costs vary but Swedish curler Johanna Heldin said you can pay up to around $700 for them.
Styles vary, too. While most curlers at the Olympics are wearing plain black curling shoes, some have a more casual look — like Taylor Anderson-Heide of the United States, who has donned white, sneaker-style shoes in Cortina.
Despite sharing the same name, curling brooms and cleaning brooms are very different.
Curling brooms swap carbon fiber for the wooden or plastic rods typical of household brooms. Nylon pads replace straw bristles. Olympic-level models will set you back around $200-$250, Peterson said.
Broom lightness directly correlates to a curler's control over a stone's speed and trajectory. The lighter the broom, the quicker the sweep and the faster the melting of ice pebbles that make up a curling sheet.
In fact, sweeping technology has actually grown so advanced that certain models have been banned from competition. That's what led to the “Broomgate” scandal, which rocked the curling world beginning in 2015.
Curlers began debuting high-tech brooms that gave sweepers so much control over the stone that the skill of the thrower failed to matter. Those kinds of brooms were then barred from competition by World Curling, which now maintains strict parameters on what kinds of brooms are allowed.
The homegrown curling seen on social media makes one thing clear: To the public, anything can be a curling stone.
Even if pots, pans, hair products — and even babies — can do the trick in a pinch, they're nothing like the curling stones on the ice in Cortina.
If you want Olympic-level material, you'll have to look to the uninhabited isle of Ailsa Cragi, located 10 miles (16 kilometers) off the coast of Scotland.
All the stones at these Games are made of the super-dense granite from that isle, manufactured by Kays Curling.
The company has a history with the Olympics dating back to the first winter edition in 1924 in Chamonix, France. The curling competition then was long thought to have been an exhibition event but eventually was confirmed as official. The company has continued to make stones for the Games since curling returned as a medal sport in Nagano 1998.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Curling stones are prepared ahead of a men's curling round robin session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Italy's Mattia Giovanella gestures holding his shoes, after the men's curling round robin session against Britain, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Brazilian ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen turned in a powerful final run to win the Olympic giant slalom Saturday and earn South America’s first medal at a Winter Games.
With snow falling and fog settling in, the 25-year-old Pinheiro Braathen remained cool and relaxed as he navigated his way through the technical Stelvio course. After seeing his place — No. 1 — he fell to the snow before starting to scream.
He finished in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 25 seconds. He beat Swiss racer Marco Odermatt, the defending Olympic champion, by 0.58 seconds. Odermatt's teammate, Loic Meillard, earned bronze.
Pinheiro Braathen is the fun-loving, samba-dancing skier who’s ready to get this party started. On the back of his helmet, he has in big letters “Vamos Dancar” — “Let’s Dance.”
Fittingly enough, it’s Carnival season, too, a festival of parades, masquerades and partying made famous in places such as Brazil.
There's plenty to celebrate because, “Brazil is an Olympic champion in Alpine skiing,” said Pinheiro Braathen, who opened up a massive 0.95-second advantage after the opening run, thanks to being the first racer on the course. “I’ve tried over and over again to put words into what it is that I’m feeling but it’s simply impossible."
Pinheiro Braathen comes from a family where his mother is Brazilian and his father is Norwegian. He started racing for Norway until abruptly retiring before the 2023 season, only to return a year later representing Brazil.
He’s already accomplished plenty of “firsts” with his new country: First Brazilian Alpine racer to finish on a World Cup podium last year and first ever World Cup win for the country this season.
Now, first Brazilian gold medalist.
“The emotions that I’m feeling right now is an internal sun inside of me that is that is shining so, so bright and toward so many people,” he said. “It is the very light that brought me the power to be the fastest in the world today and to become an Olympic champion.
"I was skiing with my heart, and when you ski the way you are, anything is possible. The only thing that matters to me is that I remain who I am. I am a Brazilian skier who became an Olympic champion.”
That's why he got so choked up hearing his nation's anthem on the podium.
“There’s nothing about today where I am in a cognitive state whatsoever,” Pinheiro Braathen said. “Having achieved this gold medal and hearing the national anthem ring over the stadium, which I’ve experienced so many times as a fan of the Brazilian football team — it's where I grew my love for sports. Being the reason that I get to hear and share that song in a stadium in the middle of mountains, because of a Winter Olympic gold medal for these colors, I’m beyond proud.”
In Milan, his fans, decked out in green and yellow, crowded into “Casa Brasil.” They cheered for the entirety of his run, screaming and jumping to their feet once he finished. The sound system blared “We Are The Champions” before playing samba-infused songs for everyone to dance to.
He remains a popular figure, with one spectator wearing a “Lucas Fan Club” T-shirt at the Brazil House, while another clutched a sign declaring “I’m a fan of Lucas.”
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated his country’s first ever Winter Olympics medal on his social media channels.
“This unprecedented result shows Brazilian sport has no limits. It is the reflection of talent, dedication and continuous work to strengthen sport in every dimension,” Lula said. “Congratulations to Lucas Pinheiro and all the team involved in this historic achievement, which inspires new generations and widens the horizon for Brazilian sport.”
It’s another medal at the Milan Cortina Games for the 28-year-old Odermatt. He added this to the silver in the team event, where he partnered with Meillard, and bronze in the super-G.
“Three medals,” Odermatt said, “is amazing.”
Atle Lie McGrath of Norway wore a black armband in remembrance of his grandfather, who died on the day of the opening ceremony. He finished fifth.
Associated Press Writers Stefanie Dazio in Milan and Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed to this report
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing and AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Supporters of Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen react at the Brazil House as he starts his second run in the men's giant slalom at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, center, winner of a gold medal in an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, celebrates with silver medalist Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, left, and bronze medalist Switzerland's Loic Meillard, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen celebrates winning an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen celebrates winning an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course, during an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen competes during an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen checks his time at the finish area after the first run of an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (Michael Buholzer/Keystone via AP)
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen competes during an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
