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Curlers halfway through round-robin competition
Swede hanging up broom
By Julie Dockstader Heaps
Deseret News Olympic specialist
OGDEN — Sweden's Elisabeth Gustafson will abandon rocks and ice after the Olympics for a scalpel.
The skip of the Swedish women's curling team is a pediatric surgeon in Uppsala where she lives with her husband, Tomas, and her little boy, William. In an Olympic world where athletes hold a job on the side and live for their sport, Gustafson curls on the side and lives for her family.
And her patients.
In fact, her team's sports psychologist uses Gustafson's career to pump her up.
"She says, 'You have patients and they're proud to have you as their doctor,' " the 38-year-old said this week at The Ice Sheet where her team is pursuing another Olympic medal.
Gustafson's rink took home the bronze at the Games in Nagano. She'd like to strike gold this time around, and it's highly possible with four world championships to her name (1992, 1995, 1998, 1999; she won in 1992 under her maiden name, Johansson).
But to this soft-spoken woman with a quick smile, there are more important things to worry about. In many ways, she's not unlike any other working mother.
"I always feel like I'm not working enough, not home with my son, not curling enough. I live with this feeling. I think it helps to have a husband who has been an athlete. He understands the time it takes."
That's an understatement. Tomas Gustafson is a national hero in Sweden with three gold medals and one silver in speedskating (1984, 1988). The two met in 1993 on a television program featuring national athletes.
Tomas is in Utah to support his wife and as a member of the International Olympic Committee. He's easy to spot at her games. Just watch her. At the end of every draw — win or lose — the first thing she does is wave to a small group of people in the stands, all wearing yellow and waving the Swedish flag. They are her parents, brother, husband and son.
"There's no one home to baby-sit," Elisabeth Gustafson said, laughing, about her 3-year-old son cheering for Mom in the stands. "No, it's not that," she quickly adds. "It would be terrible to be here so long and not see him."
Ironically, the first time the two-time Olympian watched curling, she thought it was funny.
She's been putting the rock on the spot for more than 20 years now. And it's come with sacrifices.
"It would be nice to read a book or something like that. Sometimes I feel I live a very colorless life. I just work and curl and (make time for) family. You can fill your life with so many other pleasures and meet people."
As an international athlete, she says she has lived a lifetime of relying on others.
"I feel it's time for me to be there for someone else. I shouldn't be the priority any longer. That's a strong feeling."
Sounds like someone re-evaluating her future. But for now, the veteran curler is just trying to take home another Olympic medal.
E-mail: julied@desnews.com
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February 15, 2002
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