Resilience as the key to success

Justin Hausheer, Simon Gloor, Marc Hösli and Philipp Hösli, who delivers the last two stones, have been competing in this line-up for three years. Simon Gloor, at 28 the oldest of the quartet, joined the team back then - the other three have been playing together for longer.

Philipp and Marco Hösli are brothers. Their grandfather was the first in the family to take up curling, and his three sons followed suit. One of them is Rolf Hösli, Philipp and Marco's father, who has also been their coach since 2016. He had previously coached other teams. Philipp Hösli sees many advantages in this special constellation, "as we know each other very well. It has worked well so far." Hausheer adds in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency: "He can separate the whole thing very well."

A born skip

The fact that Marco Hösli is the team's skip is fitting, as he likes strategy games: "Even as a child, I found it interesting to plan ahead tactically and strategically." He also describes reading the ice and remembering how the tracks on it behave as one of his strengths.

Why doesn't he play the last two stones like most skips? "Mainly to spread the responsibility a little. The way we've solved it now, it's easier to concentrate on your main task." Lead Hausheer tries to loosen up the team "when we're tense." According to Philipp Hösli, Second Gloor is the most emotionally balanced: "That's always good for me when the games are close."

Prevailed against Olympic bronze medal winners

The Glarus team fought hard for their World Championship debut at the Swiss Championships in Bern at the end of February. In the best-of-3 final against the team led by skip Yannick Schwaller, they lost the first game by a clear 1:6, before winning the second game 6:4 after an extra end and the third 5:4. Schwaller and Co. had previously won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo after a flawless round robin.

How was this coup possible? "I find it difficult to single anything out," says Gloor. "Curling is a sport in which so many factors have to come together on day X or in week X. We've been developing every single piece of the puzzle for three years and we try to put it together at the right moment. In the end, it's the sum of very small parts." Is there anything he would highlight in particular? "Resilience this season. It's incredibly important in curling, because everything never works out and there are always setbacks. Getting up again and stepping on the gas is what sets us apart. We've worked on this resilience the most in the last year - that is, in the mental area in general with sports psychologists and interpersonally in the team. We have moved closer together."

However, investments had already been made in the mental area. "But it takes a certain amount of time and maturity to realize what you really need, what you really need to talk about," says Gloor. "You have to be 100 percent honest with each other and with yourself in order to achieve what it takes to be successful. That is the biggest change that has happened," says Gloor.

Medal in the back of their minds

The quartet traveled to the USA on Tuesday. Their first opponent will be Poland on Saturday night Swiss time. Each team will play twelve games in the round robin - the first two teams will go straight through to the semi-finals, while the teams in third to sixth place will contest the quarter-finals. "A medal is somewhere in the back of our minds, but if we manage to qualify for the play-offs, we'll be relatively happy with that," says Marco Hösli.

The Swiss women around skip Xenia Schwaller, who sensationally won gold in their World Championship debut, are an inspiration. "That gives us a bit of drive," explains Gloor. "I hope we can take this with us and continue like this for Switzerland." It remains to be seen whether the team will stay together after the tournament. For now, the entire focus is on the World Championships.