After Niklas Edin’s team won the Olympic final in Beijing two years ago, a discussion arose about whether the gold made the Swedish skipper the GOAT – The greatest of all time, the best curling player of all time.
Scotsman David Murdoch, captain of the British team that Sweden just defeated in what was called one of the best curling matches ever played, was one of those who thought so.
Although curling is a sport where materials and external conditions have changed relatively little over the years compared to many other sports, it is always difficult to weigh the champions of the past against those of today.
The big difference is that today’s best players submit to more physical training. Niklas Edin himself was involved and led that development. Before the Olympics in Pyeongchang 2018, he said that he and the team trained more physically than on ice.
Niklas Edin has taken the sport of curling to a new level with the help of physical training. Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
The ability to be able to sweep better, make harder clearances and above all, keep the concentration up throughout matches and tournaments has made the three editions that Edin captained the world’s most successful teams this century.
The long row of medals started with gold at the European Championships in Scotland in 2009.
In the EC context, Niklas Edin has six golds and two silvers.
In the WC he has six golds, one silver and two bronzes.
During four Olympics it has been the placings, fourth, third, second and first.
20 championship medals over 15 years.
Curling is a team sport and Edin has had the ability to surround himself with skilled teammates. At the same time, there are few Swedes who have dominated a sport as he has. The attention has not always been the greatest and there have never been any achievement golds or Jerring prizes.
Jan-Ove Waldner nut out generations of Chinese table tennis players and received in China the most beautiful of nicknames: “The Evergreen Tree”. Between 1982 and 2000, the JO won 37 Olympic, World Cup and European Championship medals, twelve of which were in singles.
JO was known for finding punches that no one else saw. If you want to make further comparisons with Edin, you can study SVT’s pictures from the curling WC last year when he acted as magician and spin doctor in the match against Norway.
Ever since the then twelve-year-old Edin saw curling on TV from the Nagano Olympics in 1998, he has been saved by the sport. And while opponents and teammates have come and gone, the 38-year-old from Sidensjö outside Örnsköldsvik has continued to do what he enjoys most.
“We love this life,” Edin said after one of this week’s victories at the World Cup in Switzerland.
It was the biggest reason why Edin and Oskar Eriksson, Rasmus Wranå, Christoffer Sundgren and the reserve Daniel Magnusson decided after the Olympic gold in Beijing to take a new bet towards the Olympics in Milan-Cortina 2026.
After four straight World Cup gold they ended up outside the podium last year, when Edin had just returned from knee surgery. During this week’s tournament, the team mastered the tricky ice conditions in Schaffhausen the best and was back at its highest level.
Regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s final, the team will be a gold candidate in the Olympics in two years. Whether the team continues after that remains to be seen. Back, knee and wrist injuries have bothered Edin over the years, but it wouldn’t surprise if the tree continues to be green – even beyond the 2030 France Olympics.