Sisters Hope to Turn Chemistry on Ice into Gold in Torino Games

By Mark Hoerrner

Family members often cheer one another on. They clap, shout, and yell support for one another. But you won’t hear or see any of that with the sisters Johnson.

Cassie and Jamie, not twins, but sisters who are said to have an unspoken connection on the ice, are the captains of what has been named "Team Johnson." These sisters hope to bring home Italian gold in this year’s Winter Olympics, just the third showing of the centuries-old Scottish sport of curling.

The sport, often called "shuffleboard on ice," is a highly-competitive sport that involves a 42-pound stone released by a single competitor with the purpose of getting into the center of a series of concentric circles. Other players on a team will use special "brooms" to smooth out the ice and allow the stone to travel to the intended destination. While it seems a simple tournament, it’s actually a complex sport that relies on tough judgment, a keen understanding of physics, and deft physical control. Participating in curling doesn’t make one fit, but one must be fit to play the sport well.

"You need a little bit of endurance because those games get to be 2½ hours," Cassie told Olympic press agents in a recent interview. "At the Olympics you play one every day."

Cassie is the "skip," or captain of the team, and her sister serves as the "vice-skip." The rest of the team consists of Maureen Brunt, Jessica Schultz, and Courtney George. In 2002, another sister act, Kari Erickson and Stacey Liapis, led the U.S. women’s team to a fourth-place finish. The Johnson sisters are looking change that, but they face stiff competition from Great Britain’s women’s team, which stole the gold at the last Winter Olympics.

The Brits take their curling seriously. So seriously, in fact, that the British team has invested over $30,000 in a computerized broom that will give the team feedback about the pressure and motion exerted on and by the broom while used on the ice.

Despite the intense competition, Cassie feels strongly about the team’s ability to place high in Torino. "I like being under the pressure that I have as a skip," Cassie said. "It’s a lot of responsibility on me because if I miss my shots, everything that the team has worked up to for that end, it’s all on me to make my last two shots, basically. And sometimes it comes down to one shot at the end of the game, too, like it was in the trials. It was a shot to the four-foot to win and everything was on the line at that point—going to the Olympics and going to [the World Championships]."

Jamie echoes her sister’s optimism and notes that they have a long history of working towards winning. "I really enjoy playing with my sister," Jamie said during her interview. "We've been together on a team for 18 years, a long, long time. This year is going to be unbelievable. I'm really excited. We get along so well."

You could say the two have curling in their blood—literally. The year Jamie was born, their mother and father won the National Mixed Championship in curling. Since then, the young women have faced victory after victory, most recently taking a silver medal at the World Championships and earning their spots leading the U.S. Women’s team.

For the fans, the duo has set up a web site as a result of the popularity they have found during international competition (www.curlgirls.com) which is updated regularly by the sisters and the other members of the team.