Markku Uusipaavalniemi is a Finnish curler and former politician.
Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in the town of Pinerolo, Italy from February 13 to February 24. It proved to be the sleeper hit in terms of television ratings in Italy. According to a CBC feature, curling at the 2006 Winter Games drew 5 million viewers, eclipsing ice hockey and figure skating. This, and the success of the Italian men's curling team created a surge of interest in curling within Italy, where there was no previous tradition of the sport and only a few hundred players.
Johan Niklas Edin is a Swedish curler. He currently resides in Karlstad, which has been his curling home base since 2008. He holds several sport distinctions. He is the first and the only skip in World Curling Federation (WCF) history to win three Olympic medals – gold (2022), silver (2018), and bronze (2014) – and to skip men's curling teams to seven World Men's Curling Championship medals. He is also a seven-time European Curling Championship titleholder and won three silver medals in those championships. He is currently tied with Oskar Eriksson in first place on the WCF-recognized list of championship medals, with thirty-eight in total. He reached the playoffs in forty-five Grand Slam of Curling events and won the Pinty's Cup with his current teammates, Oskar Eriksson, Rasmus Wranå, and Christopher Sundgren. With the same lineup in 2022, Edin and his teammates also became the first and only men's curling team to win a fourth consecutive World Men's Curling Championship. Edin has played exclusively in the position of skip since 2007. The team bearing his name has been ranked on the World Curling Tour as high as No. 1, including for most of the 2017–18 season. As of the end of the 2021–22 Curling Season, Team Edin was ranked in the top three teams in the world.
Kalle Kiiskinen is a Finnish curler.
Jani Sullanmaa is a Finnish curler. He currently plays third for Aku Kauste.
Teemu Salo is a Finnish curler from Hyvinkää. He has played lead position for Markku Uusipaavalniemi since 2002.
John Shuster is an American curler who lives in Superior, Wisconsin. He led Team USA to gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics, the first American team to ever win gold in curling. He also won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He has played in five straight Winter Olympics and eleven World Curling Championships.
Matthew James Hamilton is an American curler from McFarland, Wisconsin. He currently plays front-end on Team John Shuster. He is a World Junior Champion, World Men's bronze medalist, and Olympic gold medalist.
Ulrik Schmidt is a Danish curler from Holte. He is the former skip for the Danish national team, and he threw third stones.
Oskar Ingemar Eriksson is a Swedish curler from Karlstad. He currently plays third for the Niklas Edin rink. He is the first curler in history to win four Olympic medals – gold, silver, and two bronze – and the first to secure two Olympic medals in different curling disciplines in the same Olympic Games. He is also a seven-time World Men's Curling Champion, seven-time European Men's Curling Champion, and the first curler in history to win three gold medals in major international curling championships in a single calendar year – the World Men's Curling Championship, the European Curling Championship, and the World Mixed Doubles Championship. Having also won two World Mixed Doubles Championship medals, he is the first and the only curler to win eight World Curling Championship gold medals in the senior men's division and has won thirteen World Curling Championship medals overall in that division. He also holds the record for most gold medals in international competitions as recognized by the World Curling Federation. He is the only member of Team Sweden to have competed in all of the World Men's Curling Championships from 2011 to 2024. He won medals in all but two of these championships, as well as playing in multiple positions – as skip, third, second, and as an alternate. In 2022, Eriksson and his teammates also became the first men's team in history to win four consecutive World Men's Curling Championships. In 2024, Eriksson and Niklas Edin became the first and only two curlers in history to have seven career gold World Men's Curling Championship medals.
Tyler George is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. He is a three-time U.S. Champion, 2016 World bronze medalist, and 2018 Olympic gold medalist. Since the 2018 Olympics, he has taken a break from playing competitive curling, instead spending time as an ambassador and coach for the sport.
The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's and women's versions of junior and senior championships. There is also a world championship for wheelchair curling. The men's championship started in 1959, while the women's started in 1979. The mixed doubles championship was started in 2008. Since 2005, the men's and women's championships have been held in different venues, with Canada hosting one of the two championships every year: the men's championship in odd years, and the women's championship in even years. Canada has dominated both the men's and women's championships since their inception, although Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Scotland, the United States, Norway and China have all won at least one championship.
The 2012 European Curling Championships was held from December 7 to 15 at the Löfbergs Lila Arena and the Karlstad Curling Club in Karlstad, Sweden. The Group A competitions was held at the Löfbergs Lila Arena, while the Group B competitions was held at the Karlstad Curling Club. The 2012 European Curling Championships marked the fourth time that Sweden hosted the European Curling Championships. The Group C competitions were held from October 5 to 10 in Erzurum, Turkey.
Sanna Puustinen is a Finnish curler. Puustinen grew up in Hyvinkää but lives in Helsinki.
Oona Kauste is a Finnish curler from Helsinki. She is currently the skip of the Finnish National Women's team.
Pauli Jäämies is a Finnish curler from Helsinki. He currently plays for the Finnish national team, skipped by Aku Kauste. He is known for sporting long black dreadlocks.
Milja Hellsten is a Finnish curler from Hyvinkää. She currently plays third for Oona Kauste.
Maija Salmiovirta is a Finnish curler. She currently plays second for Oona Kauste.
Marjo Hippi is a Finnish curler from Helsinki. She currently plays lead for Oona Kauste.
Bilal Ömer Çakır is a Turkish curler from Erzurum. He is the coach of the Turkish National Women's Curling Team skipped by Dilşat Yıldız, who is also his mixed doubles partner.
Finland 
