A red headband earns quirky U.S. curling star a nod from 'Pommel Horse Guy' at Winter Olympics
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Move over, “ Pommel Horse Guy.” The Americans just might have another bespectacled breakout star at the Olympics.
Indeed, throw in his mop of dark hair and American curler Aidan Oldenburg bears a striking resemblance to Stephen Nedoroscik, the eccentric gymnast who shot to fame with his bronze medal-clinching pommel horse routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
With one obvious exception.
Switch on the curling at the Milan Cortina Games and you won’t be able to miss the 24-year-old Oldenburg because of his flowing, red, Rambo-style headband that the American men’s team base their celebrations around after making a big shot.
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“You’ll see us drag our fingers across the forehead and point to the crowd,” Oldenburg said. “Yeah, it’s a really fun thing.”
Curling fans in the United States have been donning headbands in honor of Oldenburg while holding watch parties during the Winter Games, U.S. team officials said. Fans inside the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium also were seen wearing them for the Americans’ 8-7 win over Czechia in their first match of the men’s competition.
Oh, and Nedoroscik loves it, too.
“I just want to say I came across your story,” Nedoroscik said in a video message he sent to Oldenburg posted by USA Curling on Wednesday, “and I found you to be such a cool, interesting dude.”
So cool, in fact, that one of Oldenburg’s hobbies is juggling — and not just simple objects, either. He has been known to juggle machetes and flaming torches with his brother.
He’s also pretty nifty with a yoyo.
Oldenburg works as an environmental scientist on permitting for wind and solar projects. It’s the headband that has made him a name in the curling community, though. Oldenburg hails from the town of Mapleton outside of Mankato where he went to college and graduated in 2022.
He and his teammates clinched a best-of-three series at November’s Olympic Trials, defeating five-time Olympian John Shuster’s team.
Outside of curling, Oldenburg boasts an impressive repertoire of other activities, including juggling flaming torches at the Minnesota State Fair with his brother. In high school, he was a successful pole vaulter and bowler, ran cross country and did trap shooting.
Oldenburg said he started wearing it “as a bit of a joke” in August after his team was eliminated from a curling tournament.
“We had two games left that we had to play,” he said. “I was like, let’s have some fun. So an hour and a half before our game, I was like, I’m going to go buy some headbands, I’ll have everyone wear them.”
It was “hit and miss,” Oldenburg said, but he persisted and wore one when his team — skipped by Danny Casper — won the U.S. Olympic trials and then in the Olympic qualification event in December that secured the Americans a spot in Italy.
“I was like, ‘Got to keep it going after that,’” he said with a smile.
Oldenburg plays the muscly lead for Team Casper so he does plenty of sweeping, and it’s sweaty business.
Lucky, then, that he has that headband.
“No one else has the hair for it on our team,” Oldenburg said. “My hair used to be longer than this. It’s all like a kind of utility and, honestly, it’s so hot out there in the arena, it helps to keep the sweat out of my eyes.”
He thinks that U.S. curling fans can associate themselves more with the team by wearing the headband.
“They don’t have easy access to team uniforms and stuff like that," Oldenburg said. "In other sports like football or baseball, you go buy your favorite player’s uniform and wear it in the stands.
“The headband, it’s nice and it’s cheap. It’s pretty fun, too.”
Oldenburg brought the fire against Czechia, whooping and hollering after big shots and winning ends. The U.S. rink is young and Oldenburg, Casper and teammates Ben Richardson and Luc Violette look like they're having the time of their lives in Italy.
“We love curling when it’s loud out there in the stands,” he said. “The energy, we feed off it."
That, and good-luck messages from the Pommel Horse Guy.
“If you guys ever need a plus one on your curling team,” Nedoroscik said in his video to Oldenburg, “feel free to reach out.”
