THE CANADIAN PRESS
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. — There was a large package waiting for Norway when the team arrived in Swift Current, Sask., for the women’s world curling championship.
Out of the box came even louder versions of the loud pants their male counterparts popularized at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver last month.
“Our third was laughing her brains out,” skip Linn Githmark said.
Loudmouth, the golfwear company that supplied Thomas Ulsrud’s team the pants that took the Winter Games by storm, shipped the women their own version.
Githmark, third Henriette Lovar, second Ingrid Stensrud and lead Kristin Skaslien wanted to oblige and wear them on the ice.
One of the four pairs of pants was made for an extra-large male, however, and had to be taken to a local tailor. The foursome didn’t unveil them until Sunday evening’s televised game against Canada.
Ulsrud’s team, which lost in the Olympic final to Canada’s Kevin Martin, wore red, white and blue diamonds on their legs.
The women didn’t choose their pattern of large multi-coloured dots because Loudmouth surprised them with it.
“They just sent us whatever they had — what they thought would match,” Githmark said. “I like the colours. They’re man’s pants, you can see that. It’s kind of big, but it’s very, very comfortable.”
The Norwegian women have more conservative pants from a curling sponsor to wear with their white shirts, but Githmark says her team will wear their technicolour pants at the world championship when they wear their red tops. She says she’s not afraid to wear them.
“I normally wear kind of flashy clothes, stockings whatever,” she said. “I never dress in pitch black.”
The Loudmouth pants haven’t run out of legs. Norway’s curling teams at the Paralympics showed up wearing teal green, blue, black and white colour in a plaid pattern, also supplied by Loudmouth.
Githmark, 27, says Norway will wear another version of the pants at the world men’s curling championship in Italy next month.
“In Europe, curling is seen as kind of dull. Like, you like books if you play curling,” Githmark said. “When you do something that creates attention in life (with) colours, (you) have fun.”
Canadian skip Jennifer Jones wasn’t distracted by the opposition’s attire in her 8-3 win.
“I don’t think I could pull them off, but they look great on those young girls,” she said. “They made a statement at the Olympics and the girls are carrying it on, so it’s fun.”
The Norwegian men sent King Harald a pair during the Winter Games.
“I think he sleeps in them,” Githmark joked. “I think I’m going to sleep in them.”