Several hundred thousand fans
A refreshing burst of colour, according to some. Hideous, say others. But most people agree that the unorthodox choice of pants was an ingenious move: At the time this was written more than 400,000 fans from around the world had become members of The Norwegian Olympic Curling Team's Pants Facebook page.
Norwegian second Christoffer Svae, who was also behind the team’s hot pink belts at last year’s championships, does not think the choice of leg wear is as controversial as everyone makes it out to be.
Good chances for a medal
Gaudy trousers are not the only reason for the Norwegian team’s popularity. They have also delivered a solid performance during the Olympics.
“As one of the guys on the team said -The fall could be a big one but you could have really good fun on the way down,” said team’s ship Thomas Ulsrud to The Canadian Press when the Winter Games began.
Not prohibited…
Colourful uniforms on the ice are not prohibited, at least not for now, so the curlers are free to liven up their wardrobe with the same kind of pants used by golfer John Daly last year.
But the team’s choice of trousers is not entirely random – they purposely chose the colours of the Norwegian flag.
”If this makes young people back home or in other countries start curling, that’s just superb,” says Svae.
...for the time being
It remains to be seen whether the Norwegian curlers will don the same pants in next year’s championships.
“There's actually no rules against (the) pants but it probably will be after this,” says Svae.