The U.S. women's curling team were soundly defeated by a Russian team led by Sidorova, who wants to be known for her sporting ability first and foremost.
INTS KALNINS/REUTERS
Russia's skip Anna Sidorova reacts during their women's curling round robin game against the U.S. at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
SOCHI, Russia - Just their luck. Not only were the U.S. women curlers facing the tough home team on Tuesday, they were playing against the most popular woman athlete right now in all of Russia.
That would be Anna Sidorova, who has temporarily displaced Maria Sharapova here as the perfectly symmetrical face of sports. Maybe this flirtation won't last long, because curling is... well, curling. But a few well-placed, provocative magazine photo sessions -- "just three," she said modestly -- have propelled Sidorova into a position of considerable renown over here, and quite possibly wherever you are reading this.
The Ice Cube arena on Tuesday for this match was transformed into something not at all like your Canadian grandfather's curling rink. The crowd was raucous, forcing the curlers to use hand signals instead of their usual vocal cues. If the fans didn't always understand what they were watching, they knew whom they were watching. The Russian women on Sheet No. 3, not just Sidorova, have become hot Olympic tickets.
"It's pleasant to have people like us," Sidorova said in solid English, after the team skip systematically took apart the Americans, 9-7. "But they must appreciate we're professional sportsmen first, then girls. I like people to say, 'This is good curler.'"
Sidorova is a very good curler, and knows exactly what she is doing, on and off the ice. Her deliveries were on target against the U.S., whittling away an early 4-1 deficit. A carom shot in the seventh end rescued Russia and netted two points. She converted the equivalent of a bowling split in the ninth for two more points, knocking away two U.S. rocks with one stone, sealing matters.
Sidorova didn't grow up with this sport. She was a promising figure skater for seven years, until age 13, when she badly injured her leg and couldn't find a doctor able to completely heal her.
"I wanted to still be active figure skater, but nobody know how to help me," she said. Her mother's friend suggested curling, and the rest is Olympic history.
RELATED: OVECHKIN LEADS RUSSIA'S QUEST FOR GOLDThe crowd at the Ice Cube chanted and screamed for the Russian team, even if they were sometimes cheering at the wrong time. Curling is an intricately tactical sport, and what appears a bad shot to the unitiated may be a strategic gem.
"I could see at the beginning not everyone understood, just cheering," Sidorova said.
Another Russian curler, Margarita Fomina, noticed volunteers mingling with the crowd, educating the fans. There had been some embarrassing behavioral miscues, bordering on disrespect, during the team's opener on Sunday against Denmark.
"We want more serious attitudes towards us," Ekaterina Galkina, the team leader, had said after the Russians' first match. "There were a couple of comments from the stands like, 'You look good girls.' OK, so what?"
Curling fans, like tennis or golf fans, are not supposed to cheer the errors of opponents. That's another lesson slowly learned.
"Today (the reaction) was more normal," Fomina said.
The Russians are off to a 2-0 start. The Americans are 0-2, having frustrated their coach here with inopportune miscues that cost them both matches.
RELATED: MANCUSO TAKES BRONZE, SCORES FIRST U.S. ALPINE SKIING MEDAL"It's like a pitcher," said Bill Todhunter, about an error in the fifth end by Debbie McCormick, whose shot hit a guard stone, and a later mistake by skip Erika Brown. "When you start to aim, you start to miss. Just throw the rock."
If nothing else, the U.S. women got a real taste of big-time athletic events. Judging by the noise alone, this might have been Davis Cup match, or a U.S-Russia hockey game.
"I loved the crowd," McCormick said. "We practice every day and it's so quiet and so boring."
Brown said the Americans pretended the fans were singers offering backup vocals. She was happy for the fuss, happy for Sidorova. Just unhappy about the result.
"The more media coverage they get, the more it exposes people to our sport," Brown said.
That sport, somehow, has opened doors for Sidorova, made her a marketable athlete in a previously unmarketable discipline.
"I love curling," Sidorova said.
The feeling is mutual.
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