When it comes to sport, Australians tend to stick to the summer variety. But in exactly a year’s time, two local athletes will look to once again take to the world stage at the Winter Olympics.
Dean Hewitt and mixed doubles partner Tahli Gill made history at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, where they were the first Australian curlers to represent their country at the Games.
Dean Hewitt in action on the ice.Credit: Chris Hocking
Curling, a unique winter sport where athletes guide granite stones across the ice using special brushes, has developed a small but mighty group of faithfuls at home in Australia.
The sport has come a long way in this country, says Hewitt. It’s gone from mostly unknown to experiencing a rise in popularity – partly due to the duo’s history-making qualification.
“For years and years people would ask, ‘What is curling?’ But since that Olympics … I think the level of awareness across Australia has grown quite a lot. More and more people are coming out to attend curling,” Hewitt says.
“I think the toughest thing at the moment is still that we don’t have enough ice time, let alone dedicated curling ice … we can’t even advertise, because we’re full.”
Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill were Australia’s first Olympic curling representatives.
In countries such as Canada and Sweden, curling is popular. There are purpose-built facilities and dedicated youth curling programs. Between 2022 and 2023, the Canadian government dedicated $CA4.8 million (about $5.3 million) worth of funding to the sport.
Curling in Australia looks quite different. There is limited funding and no purpose-built places to train – athletes instead rely on repurposed ice hockey rinks. This means that Hewitt spends much of the year overseas. Right now, he’s training near Turin in Italy.
Acquiring a dedicated curling space in Australia has been a long-term goal. There has been progress, with a “state-of-the-art” ice sports facility in Canberra due to be completed later this year.
Australian curlers Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill.Credit: Chris Hocking
Hewitt and Gill placed 10th in the 2022 Games, rounding out the group stage with two convincing wins against Canada and Switzerland. Now they are determined to make the podium at next year’s Winter Olympics in Milan.
“It’s been three years now, and we’ve been building up our training more and more. I think [competing in the Games] really spurred us on to grow that next level … to strive for getting on the podium this time.
“[The] 2026 [Games] was always our goal, to achieve good things at the Olympics, and 2022 was that little bonus.”
The opening of a facility would give an unprecedented boost to national curling. Both Hewitt and Gill got their start in curling through family members – the path many Australians take. But Hewitt says the status quo is shifting.
A new state-of-the-art ice sports facility will be built in Tuggeranong.
“I think it has changed. For years, it was a family and expats from around the world, whether it’s Canada, the US, Scotland, Europe, they’re all the people that actually made up the majority of the curlers,” Hewitt says.
“Now I go out to curling on a Monday night in Melbourne, and they’re mainly the Aussie accents. Mainly people that have heard about it or seen it.
“Hopefully we can get some more ice time and dedicated ice so that we can actually start promoting the sport a bit more. So that more people can come out and play the sport that we love.”
