16 February 2024

Youth Olympic Rivalries to be continued at world juniors

A walk through the world junior championships’ hall of champions shows a myriad of icons, unable to fathom the impact they would have on the ice.

The world junior to world elite curling championship gold-medal pipeline can be traced back to 1976 when Neil Houston won junior gold as part of Paul Goswell’s Canadian rink. Ten years later, he played second for Ed Lukowich, winning the Hexagon World Curling Championships in Toronto.

Swedish great Peja Lindholm became the first world junior skip to later become a world champion as an adult, lifting the trophy in 1989, preceding a decorated career where he claimed three world titles and seven European medals.

His successor, Niklas Edin, one of the greatest skips in curling history, won junior gold in 2004 – ending a Canadian dominance that included victories for the likes of John Morris and Brad Gushue.

Edin would beat fellow world and world junior gold medallist Bruce Mouat in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games final.

New stars will emerge this year – and the two countries with momentum in the men’s competition are Winter Youth Olympic Games finalists Great Britain – in Lohja, playing as Scotland – and Denmark. Skipped by Logan Carson and Jacob Schmidt respectively, they oversaw mixed teams to gold and silver medals. Later, Jacob would claim mixed doubles silver with his sister Katrine, who he described as the “MVP” of the Games.

This transition from mixed to men’s team is a fascinating factor at the world junior curling championships. Both teams were standouts – but now, they have to try and replicate their success with player changes in Lohja.

Jacob once again skips the team, throwing third stones, Jonathan Vilandt plays fourth, with Alexander Qvist and Kasper Jurlander Boege making up the front end – with Jacob’s fellow Youth Olympian Nikki Jensen acting as alternate.

Logan plays third for Scotland behind his older brother Orrin Carson. Much like in Gangwon, Archie Hyslop will play second with Charlie Gibb coming in as lead and Hamish Gallacher supporting them as alternate.

“There is a big difference in men’s teams and mixed,” said Jacob.

“In my men’s team event we’ve played together for almost six years now so there is a chemistry there that is hard to match, but there is also the change in level now, now that we are playing under-21.”

Logan’s relationship with his four-man team is just as special – seven years together and having a lifelong friendship with Orrin – adding that he thinks the team dynamic is the “big difference”.

It is difficult to not feel the hype from Gangwon despite the changing variables – but with momentum flowing through these bright sparks, there is an element of optimism.

“Our confidence is really good at the moment, I mean it usually is anyway,” said Logan.

“We’ve had some good points in the season so far already and coming off a bronze medal win last year [at the World Juniors in 2023] we’re definitely hoping to go a couple better in Finland.”

Jacob added, “It was an amazing experience to compete in two Olympic finals, getting to experience the pressure and what it feels like being the only ones in the arena.

“I will feel more ready in a future final, just because I’ve already been there and felt all the emotions that you do in a final.”

It cannot be understated the lessons both teams will have learned from the Youth Olympic Games. Scotland, competing as Great Britain, conceded four in the second end and were able to claw back to a 7-5 victory. Conversely, it was a lesson in defeat for Denmark on how to manage tight match-ups.

“We learned a lot from playing these close games, and just how important it is to stay in the game, even when it isn’t looking good,” added Jacob.

Logan, who already has existing rivalries with Benny Kapp’s Germany and Lukas Hoestmaelingen’s Norway, acknowledges the growth of Denmark, who fought their way through the World Junior-B Championships to seal their spot in Lohja.

“We knew going into the tournament that they’d be one of the toughest teams, all four of them are good players and their men’s team is pretty good, so we’ll need to watch out for them in Finland.”

Jacob takes more of a cautious approach when talking about his team’s medal chances, staying humble in light of their recent promotion to the top flight. Both players manage expectations well and fend off hyperbole about a potential rivalry as adults, focusing on the present.

“Both are very talented teams, with great potential, but it’s all about hard work, if you want to climb to the top,” said Jacob.

“We’ve played against each other a few times and I think that both of our teams are very talented, but we’ll see where we end up in the next few years.

“I am sure we are going to meet many times in the future,” he added.

Written by feature writer Michael Houston

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