Curling-Injury-scarred commander Edin leads Swedish charge for elusive gold

BEIJING : Niklas Edin's hometown of Ornskoldsvik is famous for producing some of ice hockey's greatest players, with Olympic champion Peter Forsberg and NHL All-Star twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin among the long list of talents raised there.

Located just over 525 kilometres (326 miles) north of Stockholm, Ornskoldsvik has also produced one of the world's most decorated curlers in the form of Swedish men's skip Edin.

"I'm from a hockey town so I watched a lot of hockey growing up and played a lot in school, too," said Edin, who participated in as many as 10 sports at the go at one point before starting curling at 14.

"Lots of weightlifting, running, badminton, tennis - racquet sports in general, I've done a lot of that."

More recently, Edin has taken up pool and credits that with helping keep his mind sharp.

"I'm starting to compete a bit but I take pool more as practice," he said. "It's easier on the body compared to being in a cold ice rink for two hours, which puts a lot of stress on the joints... It's more about keeping mentally fit."

At 18, Edin skipped his team to a junior world championship in 2004. It was the start of a long and glittering career during which he has won everything but the Olympic gold.

In his three previous appearances at the Winter Games, Edin has finished fourth at Vancouver 2010, third in Sochi in 2014 and runner-up in Pyeongchang four years ago.

Barking orders on the ice comes naturally to Edin, who was part of one of the last Swedish generations to undergo mandatory military service and served as a tank commander for 10 months.

"We had two drivers and I was the commander. I'd say, 'Go out and shoot something and I'll stay in here - safely," he joked.

"It wasn't the most fun at the time but I think it