Trollbeads Attending the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang

The Danish curling ladies have returned after some exciting and successful weeks attending The Olympic Games in PyeongChang in South Korea. Although the team had only played together for three months before the Olympic Games’ qualification matches and none of the ladies were professionals, the team managed to qualify for one of the two tickets for the Olympics. The team did not win medals but can be proud of delivering great results and even of a victory over the Canadian world champions.

Trollbeads met the Olympic curling sisters, Madeleine and Denise Dupont, and two young players, Julie Dall Høgh and Mathilde Halse in the Gentofte Curling Club to hear about their participation in the Olympic Games.

Two days before the opening ceremony in PyeongChang, employees at the Trollbeads’ headquarters in Copenhagen got the idea to send luck bracelets to the Danish Olympic team’s female participants including the curling team’s five members, freestyle skier Friis-Salling in addition to speed-skater and standard bearer Elena Rigas.

However, without the help of the enthusiastic and energetic General Manager of Tribons Corp., Trollbeads’ Korean distributor in Seoul, the idea would not have been realistic. He chose to take his car and drive for 12 hours to personally hand over the bracelets. He drove from Seoul to the curling team’s hotel in Andong, PyeongChang without even accepting an offer to get a coffee and some water. He was just wanting to make sure the Trollbeads’ gifts arrived before the opening ceremony on 9 February.

” It was like receiving a gift from home. Very nice. We were very impressed that he had come all the way from Seoul to find us. It was really cool,” team captain Madeleine Dupont says.

Presently the team is preparing for the last matches of the year. After that the team will go on summer holiday till September. The team is planning to join the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China in four years although the men’s curling team has decided not to participate in 2022. Madeleine is optimistic about the future of the new team.

” I am working for a media agency, Denise is a school teacher and Julie and Mathilde attend sports colleges. We were the only non-professional female curling team attending the Olympic Games. Therefore, we cannot exercise as much as the other teams. For that reason, we are very satisfied with our results and have great hopes for the future and the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.”

We ask how the atmosphere was between the competing athletes and the overall impressions of the Korea trip:

” Curling is a gentleman’s sport where you show respect towards your opponents. Thus, we have had a great relationship with all our opponents. The Japanese team was particularly friendly. Following Japanese culture, they gave us gifts before the matches. I know this is a tradition but no matter what, it contributed to the good atmosphere.”

Olympic cities around the world look like each other. However, Korea was particularly beautiful. We were met with kindness and most Koreans speak very good English contrary to some of our opponents. This can make communication during the matches difficult. Korea seems like a country where all works well. Transportation went smoothly. Everybody lined up and bus schedules were punctual,” Madeleine comments.

We follow the team to the curling alley and Madeleine’s fellow players join in telling about the Trollbeads gift. Mathilde Halse comments:

” When we received the Trollbeads bracelets, I skyped with my mother and she immediately exclaimed:” How cool.” I did not know Trollbeads before. Now I wear the bracelet most of the time”.

Julie Dall Høgh comments:” I knew Trollbeads before as my grandmother used to give us beads for our birthdays. I am therefore very happy about my new Olympic Game-luck- bracelet – it is a great memory.”

” Thanks to the devotion of the Korean distributor, we managed to receive the bracelets before the opening ceremony and felt very blessed. We wore the bracelets almost every day during the games. The length is ideal as the bracelets sat tight around our writs which was great when playing. This year we were wearing the Olympic Game collection designed by ECCO shoes and Craft, otherwise we aren’t usually sponsored. Therefore, the bracelets were such a lovely surprise and meant a lot to us – not least thanks to the long drive it took to deliver the bracelets. Thank you so much!” Denise Dupont finishes. Denise is the oldest player on the team and the most experienced in terms of Olympic Games. The guests from Trollbeads leave the curling alley to allow the team to resume the training.