Flexion and Reflection

A simple stretching exercise might have brought young curler a step closer to the Olympic Games.

Lillehammer, Feb. 10 — Matt Nielson (NZL) stretches his arms above his head while he extends his back. All he does are simple exercises that can be done in everyone`s living room. Nielson however is an athlete at a high level.

­“This is hard for me. I have not done much stretching as a curling player but I also like to play basketball, volleyball and occasionally rugby, sports where flexibility obviously is important,” Nielson (16) said.

The curler from New Zealand is testing his flexibility under the supervision of one of the developers of the Athletic 1080-system, professor Ola Eriksrud from Olympiatoppen, the elite sport center of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports. The activity is a part of the Learn and Share program the athletes are able to take part in during the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games.

Curling players spend much time with one foot in front of the other with their knees in funny positions, to put it in Nielson`s own words. The awkward positions adds to the need for a balanced well-trained body.

“I love to do fitness and I want to improve my flexibility. This system tests my ability to reach, stretch and keeping balance at the same time. I see the Youth Olympic Games as the first step on my way to hopefully going to the Olympic Games one day,” Nielson said.

Science meets reality.

The mobility and flexibility test system is no more than a few years old. Compared to what physiotherapists usually do, this system measures movement as a whole — not one joint at the time.

All of the measurements are plotted into a computer system and the results are presented as an easy understandable visual chart.

“The combination of test results tells a story about the athlete. Together with their coach we can give advices on what they can work with. We want to give the young athletes a reflection,” Eriksrud said.

Eriksrud and his team have collected in their database information from a large number of Norwegian elite senior athletes. These reference values enable the heroes of tomorrow to compare themselves with their heroes of today.

­“If we can plant a seed of reflection into one athlete per day, that is a success story,” Eriksrud said.

The 16-year-old Nielson has a clear vision of what it takes to become an Olympian. The flexibility training is one step on his long way to the Olympics.

­“I can do exercises for flexibility at home. This activity gives me an awareness of what I can work with,” he says.

Compared to sports as figure skating and skiing, curling might not seem as the sport where flexibility and motion is the most needed skill. Nielson describes why these abilities also count in curling.

“The balance is important in curling, which means we need to have strong core muscles, whether if we are sweepers or the skip. These abilities are all connected.”

By Vegard Skorpen, IOC Young Reporter (@iocreporters)