By Aadi Nair
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 5 (Reuters) – Swedish siblings Rasmus and Isabella Wranaa have discovered that growing up together could be the secret weapon in their mixed doubles curling campaign at the Milano Cortina Olympics, though it had the opposite effect during their teenage years.
The brother-sister duo made a flying start with a 10-3 win over South Korea on Wednesday, before beating Czechs Julie Zelingrova and Vit Chabicovsky 7-4 in their second game on Thursday.
With two wins in two, they sit second in the round-robin standings, level with leaders Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat of Britain.
“I think we work really well together. We know each other so well and we have played lots of curling with each other, as well as lots of training with each other,” said Isabella Wranaa, 28, who is making her Olympic debut.
“Now, for us, it’s working out really well. When we were younger, it could be a bit trickier, but now it’s way better!”
Asked if there were any vestiges of sibling rivalry still remaining, 31-year-old Rasmus Wranaa, who won gold four years ago in Beijing and silver at Pyeongchang 2018 as part of Niklas Edin’s men’s team, said: “No. Not anymore. When we were juniors.
“So I don’t know, maybe when we were 13 and 16, something like that. Then we could have a little bit of a tougher time to get along on the ice. We weren’t fighting or anything, but we could get a little bit angry at each other at that time …
“We’re feeling great. Everything is working out for us so far. I think we’re playing well. We have good communication and yeah, it’s working out.”
The Wranaas will look to maintain their perfect record in the competition when they face Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill later on Thursday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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