With golden monkey off his back, curler Edin out to enjoy Milano Cortina

As he prepares for his fifth Olympics, curler Niklas Edin finally has the freedom to savour the experience of competing at the Winter Games rather than being haunted, as he once was, by the pursuit of gold.

Over more than a decade, the Swedish skip climbed the podium step-by-step over four agonising Olympic cycles, finishing fourth at Vancouver 2010, taking bronze in Sochi in 2014 and silver at Pyeongchang 2018.

Then came Beijing almost four years ago, where at last he and his team struck gold and the elusive medal was his, lifting a weight off his shoulders heading into next year's Milano Cortina Olympics.

"In a small sport like curling, at the end of the day it's all about winning the Olympics. If you can do that, you've had a successful career. And if you can't, there's a shadow over all of the rest," Edin told Reuters by video call.

"We have had some really nice years after winning the Olympics, enjoying playing, no pressure at all. We feel now that we can go in and try to defend that title, though we might not be favourites on paper anymore. Other teams have caught up.

"But we know what we can do. It's going to be a tough battle, but we will try to defend that title and at the same time enjoy the Olympics, instead of feeling like the only important thing is winning. It's going to be nice, actually."

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Edin is under no illusions about the task ahead when it comes to defending the gold medal, with his rink far from favourites after finishing the 2024-25 season ranked 13th in the world.

They will have a better idea of where they stand when they compete with some of Europe's other top teams at the November 22-29 European Curling Championships in Finland, which serves as an Olympic dress rehearsal.

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