Sport has no borders
My name is P. N. Raju and I am the skip of a mixed curling team that will be competing at the Winter World Masters Games Lombardia 2024 in Madesimo. Italy has a special place in my curling journey and I am excited to be participating in a competition here.
I watched curling for the first time during the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. That was the first time the Winter Olympics were broadcast live on Indian television. Having watched Russ Howard win gold for Canada a few days after turning 50, I was inspired but could not immediately take up the sport because of a lack of curling facilities in India. It wasn’t until a move to San Francisco for work eight years later that I finally got to throw my first curling stone. Since then, I have gotten to represent and win medals for India at several international competitions.
In the true spirit of the World Masters Games, we will be competing at Madesimo as a truly international team with players from India, Hungary, and the United States. I met Sarah (Walsh) and David (Betts) at my curling club in San Francisco and Mariann (Bardocz-Bencsik) at the World Curling Federation Congress in Budapest. Lombardia 2024 will be the first time all four of us play together and we are really excited for this unique opportunity.
The World Masters Games celebrate the lifelong pursuit of athletic excellence and the spirit of friendly competition, making it a unique and inclusive sporting experience. Our team also exemplifies the spirit of diversity and unity. We hope that our participation will demonstrate how sports can transcend cultural and national boundaries, fostering mutual respect and friendship among athletes from different parts of the world.
