美国国家公共电台 NPR Sweet Redemption As Men's Curling Team Brings Olympic Gold Home To Duluth（在线收听）

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The gold medal-winning U.S. men's curling team got a hero's welcome last night in Duluth, Minn. It was sweet redemption for the U.S. team, which finished last and second-to-last in the last two Olympics. Dan Kraker of Minnesota Public Radio has more.

DAN KRAKER, BYLINE: Northern Minnesota is curling country. And the gold medalists entered a packed ballroom following a bagpiper through a canopy of curling brooms held up by local players.

(SOUNDBITE OF BAGPIPES PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Cheering) USA, USA.

KRAKER: The curlers sat on a stage along with two members of the U.S. women's Olympic curling team. They seemed overwhelmed by the reception.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN LANDSTEINER: Well, first of all, I'm way more nervous now than I was to play for a gold medal.

(LAUGHTER)

KRAKER: John Landsteiner, when he's not curling, is an engineer in Duluth.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LANDSTEINER: The Olympics are great and all, but this is way cooler than the Olympics right now.

(LAUGHTER)

KRAKER: Tyler George, who owns a liquor store in Duluth, says he felt a lot of responsibility representing Team USA.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TYLER GEORGE: The world's watching. You know what I mean? When we're playing at worlds, we're playing in front of curling crowds. When we play at the Olympics, it's in front of everybody.

(LAUGHTER)

GEORGE: And a lot of those people are now curling fans, you know, because of this. And...

(APPLAUSE)

KRAKER: The Duluth Curling Club, where four out of the five team members are based, has been getting bombarded with phone calls.

ZANDY ZWEIBEL: My name is Zandy Zweibel, and I curl with the Duluth Curling Club and love the club, love these guys. They have worked so hard to get here.

KRAKER: Kids are filling up youth leagues, including Zweibel's 13-year-old.

ZWEIBEL: The juniors are incredibly excited. I mean, my daughter has done really well. This has totally heightened her enthusiasm. I mean, it - she is, like, totally motivated.

KRAKER: And it's not just that they won. It's how the team won that has motivated so many people in Duluth and beyond. After the last Olympics, team captain John Shuster was cut by USA Curling. So he formed his own team, and they qualified again. On the brink of elimination again, they reeled off five consecutive victories. Shuster says this team was different.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN SHUSTER: We always knew that we had something special. And we thought that we had it in us to get up on a podium and maybe even on top of a podium.

KRAKER: And he says to do it on the world's biggest stage was epic.

For NPR News, I'm Dan Kraker in Duluth.

(SOUNDBITE OF FEVERKIN FEATURING KORESMA'S "CALENDAR PROJECT: MAY")