CHAMPIONSHIPS Las Vegas to host 2018 World Men’s Championship By Terry L. Davis, Editor, & Cameron MacAllister, WCF T
he World Men’s Curling Championship will be held in the United States for the fi rst time in a decade when it heads to Las Vegas in March 2018.
It is the fi rst time a World Curling Federation (WCF) world champion-
ship has been held in the ‘live entertainment capital of the world, however, the city took notice of the sport when 51,215 spectators turned out for the World Financial Group (WFG) Continental Cup, which made its debut there in 2014. T e World Men’s Curling Championship will be held between March
31-April 8, 2018, following the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Py- eongChang, South Korea. T e 8,000-seat Orleans Arena, which is near the famous Las Vegas strip,
will be the venue for the event. T e WFG Continental Cup will be held there once again in January 2016. “We’re delighted to be taking the World Men’s Curling Championship to
one of the most recognized cities in the world, in 2018, and back to America for the fi rst time since 2008,” said Kate Caithness, World Curling Federa- tion president. “T e WFG Continental Cup in 2014 was a great success and has helped
lay the foundations for this event,” Caithness said. “I look forward to work- ing with the local organizing committee, USA Curling, our sponsors and partners in the coming years, as we seek to capitalize on the growing inter- est in curling, in Las Vegas, and put on a fi rst-class world championship.” T e World Men’s Curling Championship is held annually in March/April
and is the pinnacle of the men’s curling season. Each year 12 teams have the chance to compete for the title – eight from the European Zone, two from the Americas Zone and two from the Pacifi c-Asia Zone. In 2018, the U.S., part of the Americas Zone, will automatically qualify as host. T is will be the ninth time the U.S. has held the World Men’s Curling
Championship since 1970 (1970, 1976, 1984, 1987, 1989, 2002, 2006, 2008). However, this will be the fi rst time it will be held on the west coast. T e bid for this event is part of a drive to bring more elite sporting com-
petitions and events to the state of Nevada. “Nevada is quickly becoming a ‘must attend’ destination for the sport of
curling,” said Jon Killoran, Local Organizing Committee chairman. “We are honored to be chosen to host a prestigious World Men’s Curling Cham- pionship on the heels of hosting two WFG Continental Cups in Las Vegas, as well as the 2015 World Curling Congress in Reno-Tahoe.” To date, the U.S. has won 14 World Men’s Curling Championship medals
(seven bronze, four silver and three gold). T eir most recent medal, bronze, was won at the 2007 World Championship in Edmonton, Canada, by Todd Birr’s team. T e U.S. last won gold in 1978. “Just three years ago we were announcing the fi rst major curling event
coming to Las Vegas, and now we have the distinct pleasure of partner- ing again with the World Curling Federation and our friends in Nevada to bring this superb championship to one of the liveliest cities in the world,” said Rick Patzke, USA Curling’s chief executive offi cer. “Sandstone may be the offi cial rock of Nevada, but I think the curling stone could soon be in the running for some sort of high-roller status. Yet it’s the athletes work- ing their magic with those stones, and the passionate fans who follow the sport around the globe, who will make this a can’t-miss show in Las Vegas in 2018.”
USA Curling (( 15 Sweden is the current world men’s curling champions, winning gold at
the 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship in Halifax, Canada, in April. Before the championship in Las Vegas, the 2016 edition of the event will be held in Basel, Switzerland, April 2-10. Canada will hold the 2017 event, with the exact venue still to be confi rmed. Las Vegas is a city fi lled with exciting mega resorts and unparalleled live
entertainment. It boasts more than 150,000 hotel rooms and plays hosts to millions of visitors every year. Q
Alternate Reality A Comic By Matt Gamboa
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