Thomas Ulsrud

Thomas Ulsrud (21 October 1971 – 24 May 2022) was a Norwegian curler from Oslo. He won a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics, one World Curling Championship, two European Curling Championships, and fourteen Norwegian titles (Norwegian Men's Curling Championship and Oslo Cup). He was also known for being the skip of the team that competed while wearing colourful harlequin trousers at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Ulsrud's combined showmanship and sportsmanship became iconic and contributed to reviving worldwide interest in curling since then. In 2024, he was posthumously inducted into the World Curling Hall of Fame.

Career Early career Ulsrud began competing from 1983.

In his first World Curling Championship in 1998, Ulsrud skipped Norway to fifth place. After serving as the alternate for Pål Trulsen's team in 1999, he returned again as skip in 2006–2009, making the playoffs for the first time in 2006 and then defeated USA's Team Pete Fenson to win the bronze medal. Two more bronze medals followed in 2008 and 2009.

Between 2007 and 2010, Team Ulsrud won six World Curling Tour events, namely, the 2007 and 2009 Lucerne Curling Trophies, 2008 Baden Masters, 2008 Radisson SAS Oslo Cup, 2009 Swiss Cup Basel, and 2009 Bern Open.

Team Ulsrud began the 2010-11 curling season by winning their first European Curling Championship gold medal in Champéry, Switzerland. They began the 2018–19 curling season by winning the Baden Masters for the third time in their career. Ulsrud paired up with Kristin Skaslien at the third leg of the 2018–19 Curling World Cup in the mixed doubles event. The pair made it to the final, losing to Canada's Kadriana Sahaidak and Colton Lott. It was Ulsrud's first experience in mixed doubles.

In 2019, after a light curling season where they did not play in any Grand Slam events, Team Ulsrud announced that they would be disbanding at the end of the season. Afterwards, Ulsrud formed a new team with Steffen Walstad, Markus Høiberg and Magnus Vågberg, and they represented Norway at the 2019 European Curling Championships, holding a 5–4 record and missing the playoffs. It was Ulsrud's final European Championship appearance. Later in the season, the team finished second at the Norwegian Men's Curling Championship, which was Ulsrud's fifth straight second place finish.

His team were set to represent Norway at the 2020 World Men's Curling Championship but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Torger Nergård rejoined with Ulsrud as third, replacing Walstad, and the team played in only three domestic events because of continuing COVID-19 restrictions. It would be Ulsrud's final season, as he was diagnosed with cancer in December 2020.

Personal life Ulsrud became interested in curling at age 10 when his stepfather introduced him to the sport. When not being an athlete, Ulsrud was self-employed. A memorial service was held on 3 June 2022 at Ullern Church, Oslo. His former teammates remembered him for his friendship and his "inclusiveness" during their years of travelling and competing together.

Teams Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Events 1984–85 Bjørn Ulshagen Bjarte Nilsen Terje Strand Thomas Ulsrud 1985 1987–88 Thomas Ulsrud Thomas Due Krister Aanesen Mads Rygg 1988 1988–89 Thomas Ulsrud Bent Ånund Ramsfjell Krister Aanesen Mads Rygg 1989 1991–92 Thomas Due Torger Nergård Mads Rygg Johan Høstmælingen Thomas Ulsrud 1992 1997–98 Thomas Ulsrud Johan Høstmælingen Thomas Due Torger Nergård Rolf Andreas Lauten 1997 2000–01 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Thomas Due Johan Høstmælingen Flemming Davanger 2000 2002–03 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Thomas Due Johan Høstmælingen Thomas Løvold 2002 2003–04 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Thomas Due Jan Thoresen Thomas Løvold 2003 2005–06 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Thomas Due Jan Thoresen Christoffer Svae 2006 2006–07 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Thomas Due Jan Thoresen Christoffer SvaePetter MoeThomas Løvold 2006 , 2007 2007–08 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Thomas Due 2007 , 2008 2008–09 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Thomas DueThomas Løvold 2008 , 2009 2009–10 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Thomas Løvold 2009 , 2010 OG 2010–11 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Markus Høiberg 2010 , 2011 2011–12 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Markus Høiberg 2011 , 2012 2012–13 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Thomas LøvoldMarkus Høiberg 2012 , 2013 2013–14 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Markus Høiberg 2013 , 2014 OG, 2014 2014–15 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Sander Rølvåg Markus Høiberg 2014 , 2015 2015–16 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Sander Rølvåg Markus Høiberg 2015 , 2016 2016–17 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Sander Rølvåg 2016 2017–18 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson Sander Rølvåg Markus Høiberg 2017 , 2018 OG 2018–19 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Christoffer Svae Håvard Vad Petersson 2019–20 Thomas Ulsrud Steffen Walstad Markus Høiberg Magnus Vågberg Magnus Nedregotten 2019 2020–21 Thomas Ulsrud Torger Nergård Markus Høiberg Magnus Vågberg

Grand Slam record

Event 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 Tour Challenge N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A DNP SF DNP Masters DNP DNP Q SF Q Q Q Q Q Q DNP Q The National Q DNP DNP DNP DNP QF Q DNP DNP QF DNP DNP Canadian Open Q DNP QF SF Q DNP DNP Q DNP DNP DNP Q Players' Championships DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP QF DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP