At Paris 2024, the US had Pommel Horse Man. At these Winter Olympics, the People have a brand new cult hero: Curling Rambo.
Aidan Oldenburg, a member of the US males’s curling workforce, has attracted consideration for his glasses, thick thatch of hair and crimson bandana. His enchantment as an unlikely hero has drawn comparisons with Stephen Nedoroscik, USA’s bespectacled, Rubik’s Dice-solving gymnastics hero who received two bronze medals on the Paris Olympics.
Like Nedoroscik, the 24-year-old Oldenburg has hobbies away from his sport. He’s an avid juggler, and has launched machetes and flaming torches into his routine. His dream rising up was to grow to be an environmental scientist reasonably than an Olympian, and he has achieved each. His day job includes working with photo voltaic and wind tasks after graduating with a bachelor’s diploma in ecology.
He says he began sporting a bandana, just like the one worn by Sylvester Stallone within the Rambo motion pictures, as “a little bit of a joke” at a event final yr.
“We had two video games left that we needed to play,” he mentioned. “I used to be like, let’s have some enjoyable. So an hour and a half earlier than our recreation, I used to be like, I’m going to go purchase some headbands, I’ll have everybody put on them.”
When Oldenburg’s workforce, skipped by Danny Casper, later certified for the Olympics he determined the bandana was right here to remain.
“Nobody else has the hair for it on our workforce,” Oldenburg mentioned. “My hair was longer than this. It’s all like a form of utility and, truthfully, it’s so scorching on the market within the area, it helps to maintain the sweat out of my eyes.”
Followers have additionally began sporting bandanas in tribute to their new hero.
“They don’t have easy accessibility to workforce uniforms and stuff like that,” Oldenburg mentioned. “In different sports activities like soccer or baseball, you go purchase your favourite participant’s uniform and put on it within the stands. The headscarf, it’s good and it’s low cost. It’s fairly enjoyable, too.”
Nedoroscik has additionally given his seal of approval.
“I simply wish to say I got here throughout your story,” Nedoroscik mentioned in a video message he despatched to Oldenburg, “and I discovered you to be such a cool, fascinating dude.”
The US males’s workforce received their event opener on Wednesday towards the Czech Republic however misplaced to Switzerland on Thursday.
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