U.S. curler ices international fair play award honors

(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) Seattle curler Leon Romaniuk has been recognized for displaying the true spirit of curling by the International Committee for Fair Play. Romaniuk, 38, called a foul on himself and his team that essentially ended his team?s chances of winning the men's 2003 U.S. Curling National Championships in Utica, N.Y., on March 7, 2003. Romaniuk will receive a letter of congratulations from the ICFP, which has been honoring athletes from all sports since 1964. The winner of the award was an Italian mountain climber who gave up his chance to finish his ascent up the Himalayas to save an English boy from a different expedition group who had fallen into an ice pit. The awards recently were approved at a meeting of the Administration Council of the ICFP in May in Istanbul. "I was very honored to receive this award," Romaniuk said. "Pulling a burned rock is not one of those things you question in a gentleman?s game; it?s just the way it is." Romaniuk, who curls out of Seattle?s Granite Curling Club, was one of two players sweeping the path of his team's last rock in the men's gold medal game. The team was attempting to get the rock into the house to force the opposing team into either a pressure draw or tough double takeout for the victory. But the rock never got to the house, as Romaniuk pulled the rock out of play after inadvertently touching the rock with his broom while sweeping, due to a frosty patch on the ice that caught his broom momentarily. "We knew before the stone was thrown that we'd have to be ready on a moment's notice to sweep hard if the stone hit a patch of the heavy frost. Sure enough three-quarters of the way down it did just that," Romaniuk said. "I put my broom down and remember thinking it was like sweeping on concrete. I pulled my broom up quickly and tried it again. The second time down it just stuck. The collision with the rock was inevitable. At a time like that there's only thing left to do. You pull the stone regardless of who did or didn't see it, you know inside what happened." The opposing team was left with a straightforward single takeout with the final shot of the game, which they made with ease to win the national title. Romaniuk did not hesitate to end the play or display any frustration or unsportsmanlike conduct when the violation occurred. Likewise, after the game neither he nor his teammates blamed the loss on the violation, but rather viewed it as an unfortunate part of the game, and gave credit to their opponents for playing well in the victory. "As most people know, I?m one of the fiercest competitors in the game but I also have a deep understanding of the spirit of the game," Romaniuk said. "I learned the game at age 13 in Canada, and through bonspieling and competitive curling I've met many people and learned a great deal about the etiquette. Although I'm not perfect, I try to remember the things I was taught about the game no matter who or where I'm playing." Known for good sportsmanship and honorable conduct, curling is a sport characterized by athletes who would prefer to lose rather than to win unfairly. Like golf, curling often is referred to as a gentleman's game. Romaniuk, a native of Canada, is a software developer with Microsoft. (30) For more information: Rick Patzke, USA Curling, rickp@curlingrocks.net, 715-344-1199