By Devin Heroux, CBC Sports
The game came to an abrupt stop at the end of that ninth end. The Koreans conceded, shaking hands and surrendering to the Swedes with the score 8-3.
The Koreans couldn’t fight back their tears.
But then in their moment of despair, they stood at the end of the curling sheet together, held hands and lifted their heads before bowing to each section of the arena.
All four members of the team, all with the last name Kim — the team is known as Team Kim — basked in the raucous cheers raining down on them. Fans also call them the “Garlic Girls” because of the large of amount of garlic grown in the region they come from.
And watching it all from the other end of the arena was their Canadian coach Peter Gallant.
“Two years ago this team didn’t believe they were good enough to win a game,” Gallant said. “This week they believed they were the best in the world.”
From P.E.I. to Pyeongchang
Photo: Peter Gallant (World Curling Federation)
Gallant joined the team a little more than two years ago. He has a wealth of Canadian curling experience. The pride of Prince Edward Island has curled in nine Briers. His son, Brett, is an elite curler with Brad Gushue’s rink.
“They had a pretty good game before I came,” he said. “I was more fine-tuning them and teaching them a better way to play the game. They had the technical skill but they really didn’t know how to go about the strategy.”
Gallant says the team practiced five times a week in the lead up to this. They were serious about getting good and making a push for the podium.
The goal coming into the Olympics was to make it into the playoffs. The top four teams earned that right. It wouldn’t be easy though and Gallant knew it. Besides, the team was going up against Canada to begin the Olympics. Rachel Homan’s Canadian team are the reigning world champions.
The Koreans made a statement though, defeating Homan 8-6 in the opener and never looked back. They finished the round robin in first place and only lost once.
For Gallant though, the defining moment of this all came against Japan in the semifinal. In front of a standing room only crowd, skip Kim needed to make an extremely tough draw to the button in an extra end to win the game.
The pressure was immense. A win meant they would be guaranteed a medal. The arena went silent.
Kim delivered, sending people into hysterics over curling in South Korea.
“To see her make that shot in that moment was remarkable,” Gallant said. “That was a life-changing moment because it meant they were guaranteed a medal. I was so proud of all of them.”
“And to win this first medal in their home country, they’re superstars,” Gallant said.
“You hope a lot of these people get to try the sport. I think that’s the bottom line what they’re hoping for in Korea,” Gallant said.
“If this doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will.”