Since Beijing, it’s all been magnifico

That majestic photo of Italy’s Amos Mosaner was taken in September at Adelboden, Switzerland.

With the gorgeous mountains in the background, the big Italian lifted the mock curling stone high into the air. The image was impressive enough to be displayed on the back cover of the 2023 Curling Cares Fundraising Calendar.

(Mosaner is directing his charity funds to support Italian junior curling in his home district.)

The giant—Mosaner stands a reported six foot five—needed some help from his mates in hefting the monstrosity.

“That thing used to be perched up on the roof of the old curling rink here in Adelboden,” said World Curling Federation photographer Céline Stucki. “I remember climbing up the building as a kid to go sit on it.

“Nowadays it just sits in the lobby of the new rink. Apparently it’s not very heavy, but it was hard to balance alone for more than a few seconds, so the photo really was a team effort.”

Mosaner, who won Olympic mixed doubles gold with women’s fours skip Stefania Constantini in Beijing, also posed shirtless inside the rink with the trophy his men’s fours team—skipped by Joel Retornaz—won at that World Curling Tour event. That Stucki image adorns Mosaner’s inner pages.

“(The photos) turned out alright, considering it was a rather spontaneous thing,” said Stucki.

Italian curling is being lifted to new heights these days. After a decent 2021 European men’s championship—where Team Retornaz won bronze—there was team disappointment in Beijing, coming immediately after the mixed doubles triumph. But since then, it’s been magnifico.

In March, Retornaz won world bronze for the first time. After the summer break, both Retornaz and Constantini’s teams did well on tour, with Constantini winning her first career WCT event in Swift Current, Sask.

The men followed that up with another European bronze.

And now, less than a year after competing in their first-ever Grand Slam event, the Team Retornaz defeated Scotland’s Bruce Mouat 6-2 to win Sunday’s Masters Slam championship in Oakville, Ont.

“I wasn’t ready for this, I wasn’t expecting this,” said Retornaz. “We’re so happy about this win, it means a lot to us.”

Retornaz, Mosaner, Sebastiano Arman and Mattia Giovanella went 6-1 during the week, losing their only match 6-5 to Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson. They defeated teams skipped by Colton Flasch, Phillip Hösli, Kevin Koe, Yannick Schwaller and Brendan Bottcher in addition to Mouat, the recent European champion.

The squad made the quarterfinals (4-1) at the Tour Challenge in Grande Prairie, gone 0-4 at the National in North Bay, Ont. and went 1-3 at their debut Slam, the Players’ Championship, in Toronto last April.

“It’s a lot of travelling, I’m getting old for this,” joked Retornaz. “But it’s so, so great to win this kind of tournament.”

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKpzn5jGBwA[/embed]

Italian curling’s national coach Claudio Pescia watched his charges win from his home in Switzerland, but will accompany the team at their next Slam appearance in January—the Canadian Open in Camrose, Alta.

“Joel had to turn 39 years old to play his best curling ever,” said Pescia.

“I’m more than proud of the boys. All efforts seem to be paying off, finally.”

Pescia actually competed against a young, stylish Retornaz at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. The Swiss, who actually started his curling career as a junior in Italy, went 5-4 with skip Ralph Stöckli while Retornaz finished 4-5, which included a memorable victory over Canada’s Russ Howard/Brad Gushue entry.

“Amos is focusing on the men’s team rather than mixed doubles this season,” said Pescia. “We changed our lead (over the summer) and made a quality boost in terms of shotmaking, line calls and team dynamics.

“The other thing I influenced was the search to improve to the next level, after the European and world bronze medals: find your signature curling and quit copying superstars. Inspiration is good, but you’re great and grown up to develop your own style.

“Be unpredictable, attack to defend, don’t just play your regular and solid scoreboard play.”

Pescia will also coach Constantini’s women’s team in Camrose.

“I’m so glad the girls are invited, too,” said Pescia. “They’re excited to play their first Slam.”

Italy, of course, will host the next Olympic Winter Games in 2026.