// OLYMPIC FLASHBACK: 1998 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES Olympic Joy 1998 Olympic


Winter Games: Where are they now?


Editor’s note: Tis is part two in a series of fea-


ture stories featuring our past Olympic teams in preparation for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.


“Te memories are still vivid,”


says Mike Peplinski, vice skip on Team USA’s men’s curling team in the 1998 Olympic Winter Ga- mees in Nagano, Japan.


“We were all business during the competition,”


Peplinski says. Te team, consisting of Tim Somer- ville (skip), Myles Brundidge (second), John Gordon (lead), Tim Solin (alternate), and Peplinski of Eau Claire, Wis., started the week off slowly with a 2-4 record. But, with some luck and some improved play, they were in position to make it to the medal round. Tey began to hit their stride at the end of the round robin play, and, as fate would have it, their win com- bined with two other countries’ losses enabled them to squeak into a tie-breaker situation. Teir play peaked at the right moment, defeating Sweden and then Japan to move on to the medal round. Mike is clearly proud of the team’s play during that


period and he tells the story almost as if it happened yesterday. “In the Japan game, we were tied up go- ing in to the last end with hammer. We were in good shape and the odds were in our favor. How- ever, Japan played a really good end. Tere was a question whether


Story by Brad Whitlock, U.S. Curling News writer 14 usacurl.org ))


& Heartache


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