U.S. Curling Team Beats Russian Athletes To Kick Off Pyeongchang Olympics : The Torch : NPR
Becca Hamilton
The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics' opening ceremony is Friday  but the first competitions are already under way.  The U.S. curling team of Matt and Becca Hamilton  led off a mixed doubles tournament by defeating a team from Russia.
There was a smattering of applause for each team as  they  were announced. The loudest cheers were reserved for the host South Korean team  which was also on the ice as part of the mixed-doubles tournament at the Gangneung Curling Center.
 The Russians  wore simple black and white uniforms. Other than  their  names   their  jerseys bore only one tag: Olympic Athlete From Russia â a requirement of anti-doping penalties against their country.
The two teams had a customary handshake at the start of the match. And  the Russians  also brought a gift. After the teams were introduced  Anastasia Bryzgalova ran over to the Americans and presented a stuffed brown bear to  Matt Hamilton .
In the first end  the teams took turns seeking control of the target area  with  Matt Hamilton  successfully dislodging two Russian stones from the house  the inner circles where points are scored. After  the Russians  reestablished  themselves    Becca Hamilton  cleaned  them  out again and left the Americans' stones in place  taking a 3-0 advantage in the first end.
Trying to add to their edge in the second end  the Hamiltons grouped four stones on the red circle to the Russians' two. But the center then became clogged with six stones â and  the Russians  used  their  last stone to secure an advantage and take two points.
The match went quickly  a hallmark of the mixed doubles format. And in this match between representatives of rival nations  there were no signs of awkwardness out on the sheet â other than an incident midway through  when  Matt Hamilton  got tangled up with  his  counterpart  Alexander Krushelnitskiy.
As they attempted to sweep stones along the outer ring   Hamilton  fell to the ice  and Krushelnitskiy quickly gestured an apology. The two shook hands  and  Hamilton  headed back to the other end with a smile on  his  face.
The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics' opening ceremony is Friday  but the first competitions are already under way.   [TGT] led off a mixed doubles tournament by defeating a team from Russia.
There was a smattering of applause for each team as   [TGT]   were announced. The loudest cheers were reserved for the host South Korean team  which was also on the ice as part of the mixed-doubles tournament at the Gangneung Curling Center.
 The Russians  wore simple black and white uniforms. Other than  their  names   their  jerseys bore only one tag: Olympic Athlete From Russia â a requirement of anti-doping penalties against their country.
The two teams had a customary handshake at the start of the match. And  the Russians  also brought a gift. After the teams were introduced  Anastasia Bryzgalova ran over to the Americans and presented a stuffed brown bear to  Matt Hamilton .
In the first end  the teams took turns seeking control of the target area  with  Matt Hamilton  successfully dislodging two Russian stones from the house  the inner circles where points are scored. After  the Russians  reestablished  themselves    Becca Hamilton  cleaned  them  out again and left the Americans' stones in place  taking a 3-0 advantage in the first end.
Trying to add to their edge in the second end  the Hamiltons grouped four stones on the red circle to the Russians' two. But the center then became clogged with six stones â and  the Russians  used  their  last stone to secure an advantage and take two points.
The match went quickly  a hallmark of the mixed doubles format. And in this match between representatives of rival nations  there were no signs of awkwardness out on the sheet â other than an incident midway through  when  Matt Hamilton  got tangled up with  his  counterpart  Alexander Krushelnitskiy.
As they attempted to sweep stones along the outer ring   Hamilton  fell to the ice  and Krushelnitskiy quickly gestured an apology. The two shook hands  and  Hamilton  headed back to the other end with a smile on  his  face.