After a Heated Rivalry, an Olympic curler carried the Olympic torch into the Olympic curling stadium – aka his workplace
The Olympic torch came to Cortina, just over a week before the first stones are thrown, and a longtime competitor got a late call to carry it into his workplace – the curling arena.
Scotland’s Tom Brewster is the Sport Manager for Olympic and Paralympic Curling in Cortina d’Ampezzo, on leave from his management duties at Curl Aberdeen.
Brewster skipped Scotland to two silver medals at the 2011 and ’12 world men’s championships and also has an Olympic silver medal with David Murdoch’s 2014 Great Britain squad.
An interesting look for a work shift • MilanoCortina2026 One can imagine Brewster is working long hours as the Stadio Olimpico del Ghaccio prepares for next week’s opening action. Recently, the 51-year-old got a different kind of request.
“I only found out a couple of days before,” Brewster told The Curling News.
After the torch spent Monday in Cortina, visiting the city centre and the various sliding tracks, night fell and the Scotsman carried it into the curling stadium.
Brewster then passed the flame to another torchbearer.
Brewster at left • MilanoCortina2026Earlier that day, 93-year-old Bruno Colli carried the Olympic torch for the third time in his long life, at three different Games.
Colli’s grandson Giacomo works with Brewster at the venue. Until last week, Giacomo was also in the running to join the Italian men’s fours team as their alternate.
“It was special,” said Brewster. “It’s an honour to carry the flame next to the cauldron and in this iconic 1956 stadium, more so on the 60th anniversary.
“I hadn’t carried the torch before.”
The rings recently went in at the curling venue, in green, white and blue that will instantly remind Canadian fans of Vancouver 2010’s Olympic colours.
Chief ice technician Mark Callan and his Canadian deputy Greg Ewasko landed in Cortina on Jan. 19 to start the icemaking process.
Brewster’s appointment to the 2026 organizing committee is a continuation of a trend that has seen multiple curling athletes tapped for their expertise at Olympic curling venues.
U.S. women’s skip Lisa Schoeneberg was the Curling Manager at Salt Lake City 2002 and Competition Manager at Turin 2006 in Italy.
Neil Houston, the steady front-ender who won the 1986 Brier and world men’s championship with skip Ed Lukowich, served as Sport Manager at Vancouver 2010.
Chinese skip Wang Bingyu – who captured world women’s fours gold in 2010 – was the Sport Manager four years ago in Beijing.
Two Colli generations await the flame • Brian PinelliThe torch started its Italian journey in Rome on Dec. 6. By the time it reaches the Opening Ceremony in Milan on Feb. 6 – two days after mixed doubles curling begins – it will have travelled some 12,000 kilometers over 63 days.
There have been some eclectic torchbearer choices. The day before Brewster’s turn with the flame, the torch was carried by the two actors behind the hunky hockey TV show, Heated Rivalry.
(This is where we’ll get a ton of extra page impressions. Just saying.)
Canadian curling athletes who have carried the Olympic torch did so in 2009-10 in the leadup to Vancouver 2010.
The list includes Newfoundland’s Stacie Devereaux, Don Bartlett and Mike Adam (who slide down a sheet of curling ice with it), New Brunswick’s Russ Howard, three Saskatchewan curlers – Marcia Gudereit, Don Walchuk and Ken Tralnberg – plus B.C.’s Sandra Jenkins and Georgina Wheatcroft.