‘It was more a joke than anything else’

這更像是一個(gè)玩笑，而不是別的什么 20230426 2023年世界冰壺混雙錦標(biāo)賽充滿了家庭關(guān)系。其中包括來自加拿大和瑞士的隊(duì)伍，他們是已婚夫婦，以及英格蘭隊(duì)，他們是一對父女組合。這些選手選擇與他們所愛的人一起參加他們所熱愛的運(yùn)動(dòng)。 另一個(gè)家庭組合是來自德國的Klaudius和Manon Harsch。這對母子本周都在江陵參加冰壺比賽，但參加的是不同的項(xiàng)目和不同的國家。 Klaudius代表德國參加混合雙打錦標(biāo)賽，而Manon則代表英格蘭參加就在高級錦標(biāo)賽。

Klaudius Harsch ? WCF / Eakin Howard 從外面看，這個(gè)故事似乎很簡單。 "我們都贏得了全國冠軍，但她是在英國贏得的，而我是在德國贏得的，"Klaudius解釋說。 但是，曼儂究竟是如何代表英格蘭的呢？畢竟，她和克勞迪烏斯都住在德國，事實(shí)上，曼儂從未在英國生活過。 答案是：曼儂的父親是英國人，她的母親是德國人。因此，根據(jù)她的英國國籍，她有資格代表英格蘭。 回顧一下 馬農(nóng)的英國冰壺故事始于上個(gè)賽季，當(dāng)時(shí)克勞迪烏斯代表德國參加在瑞士日內(nèi)瓦舉行的世界混合雙打錦標(biāo)賽。 這項(xiàng)賽事與世界老年錦標(biāo)賽同時(shí)進(jìn)行。曼儂參加了混合雙打比賽，為她的兒子加油，并在途中結(jié)識(shí)了一些朋友。 "在咖啡館里，有很多英國人坐在我旁邊，我和他們聊得很開心"。 后來，瑪儂開始與英國女隊(duì)的一名成員瓊-里德交談。從那時(shí)起，她就與團(tuán)隊(duì)保持聯(lián)系。 馬農(nóng)說："在宴會(huì)上，我只是說'你知道我是英國人，我仍然可以為英格蘭隊(duì)效力'，但并沒有真正想過這個(gè)問題。這更像是一個(gè)玩笑，而不是別的什么。" 活動(dòng)結(jié)束后，其中一名英國球員退出了球隊(duì)。隨后，馬農(nóng)收到一條信息，詢問她是否有興趣加入他們。 明顯的障礙是，馬農(nóng)住在德國。 她解釋說："上個(gè)賽季我飛過來[英國]五次，以了解球隊(duì)，進(jìn)行練習(xí)并參加一些比賽。" 即時(shí)聯(lián)系 女士們很早就建立了聯(lián)系，馬農(nóng)說："我們從第一分鐘起就相處得非常好。" 這使球隊(duì)在江陵取得了一些早期的成功，因?yàn)樗齻冊谇叭啽荣愔汹A了兩場。

馬農(nóng)-哈施在2023年世界老年錦標(biāo)賽上 ? WCF / Eakin Howard 在成長過程中，克勞迪烏斯一直是由他的母親指導(dǎo)的。作為母親而不是教練，瑪儂能夠觀看的第一場比賽是去年在日內(nèi)瓦舉行的世界錦標(biāo)賽。她見證了她的兒子--和他的隊(duì)友Pia-Lisa Schoell--贏得一枚銅牌，這是德國在這個(gè)項(xiàng)目上的第一枚世界獎(jiǎng)牌。 今年的賽事之所以引人注目，是因?yàn)樗材軈⒓颖荣悺．?dāng)日程安排允許時(shí)，曼儂在江陵冰壺中心內(nèi)為她的兒子加油，而克勞迪烏斯則在老年人活動(dòng)場所江陵冰球中心支持他的母親。 曼儂本周在江陵接受了她的特殊情況。星期天，她參加了德國和英格蘭的高級男子比賽。她自豪地支持兩支球隊(duì)，身上披著德國國旗，頭發(fā)上插著英國國旗。

馬農(nóng)-哈施支持德國和英格蘭 當(dāng)被問及他們是否曾想過一起打混雙時(shí)，兩人都笑了起來。 "不是競爭性的，"克勞迪烏斯笑著說。 但他們并不是Harsch家族中唯一具有冰壺知識(shí)的成員。Klaudius解釋說："我的哥哥和姐姐曾經(jīng)玩過冰壺，他們現(xiàn)在不玩了，但他們?nèi)匀挥悬c(diǎn)知道怎么玩。也許在某些時(shí)候，我們可以讓我們四個(gè)人作為一個(gè)混合隊(duì)來玩。" 哈斯夫婦在江陵享受著這種相互之間的獨(dú)特體驗(yàn)。 "這非常特別，"馬農(nóng)說。 無論本周他們各自球隊(duì)的結(jié)果如何，克勞迪烏斯和馬農(nóng)都會(huì)為對方加油。 作者：體育媒體實(shí)習(xí)生艾莉森-烏姆拉

Manon and Klaudius Harsch in Gangneung ? WCF / Stephen Fisher

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The World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2023 is filled with family connections. These include the teams from Canada and Switzerland, who are married couples, and Team England, a father-daughter duo. These players have chosen to play the sport they love alongside the ones they love.

Another family duo is Klaudius and Manon Harsch from Germany. Both mother and son are curling in Gangneung this week, but in different events and for different countries.

Klaudius is competing in the mixed doubles championship representing Germany, while Manon is playing for England in the senior championship just down the street.

From the outside, the story seems simple.

“We both won the national championship, but she won it in England and I won it in Germany,” explains Klaudius.

But how exactly did Manon come to represent England? After all, she and Klaudius both live in Germany, in fact, Manon has never lived in England.

The answer: Manon’s father is English and her mother is German. Therefore, she is eligible to represent England based on her English nationality.

Taking it back

Manon’s English curling story began last season when Klaudius represented Germany at the World Mixed Doubles Championship in Geneva, Switzerland.

This event ran alongside the World Senior Championships. Manon attended the mixed doubles event to cheer on her son and made some friends along the way.

“There were all these English people sitting next to me in the café, and I was chatting away with them.”

Later on Manon started talking to a member of the English ladies’ team, Joan Reed. From there, she was in touch with the team.

Manon says, “At the banquet I just said ‘you know I’m English, I could still play for England’ but there was no real thought about it. It was more a joke than anything else.”

Following the event, one of the English players stepped away from the team. Manon then received a message asking if she would be interested in joining them.

The obvious obstacle was that Manon lives in Germany.

She explains, “I flew over [to England] five times the last season to get to know the team, practice and play some tournaments.”

Instant connection

The ladies connected early on with Manon saying, “We got along really well from the first minute.”

This led to some early success for the team in Gangneung, as they won two of their first three round-robin games.

Growing up, Klaudius was always coached by his mother. The first competition that Manon was able to watch as a mother rather than a coach was last year’s world championship in Geneva. And she was able to witness her son – and his teammate, Pia-Lisa Schoell – win a bronze, the first world medal for Germany in this discipline.

This year’s events stand out because she gets to play as well. When the schedule allows, Manon is inside the Gangneung Curling Centre cheering on her son, and Klaudius is supporting his mother in seniors’ venue, the Gangneung Hockey Centre.

Manon has embraced her special situation this week in Gangneung. On Sunday, she attended the senior men’s game between Germany and England. She proudly supported both teams, with a German flag draped over her body and English flags in her hair.

When asked if they’d ever thought of playing mixed doubles together, the duo laughed.

“Not competitively,” chuckled Klaudius.

But they are not the only members of the Harsch family with curling knowledge. Klaudius explains, “My brother and sister used to play curling, they don’t anymore, but they still kind of know how. Maybe at some point we can get us four playing as a mixed team.”

The Harschs are enjoying this unique experience with each other in Gangneung.

“It is very special,” says Manon.

Regardless of how the results go this week for their respective teams, Klaudius and Manon will be cheering each other on.

Written by Sports Media Trainee, Alison Umlah