British curlers Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds were left stunned on Friday when rap star Snoop Dogg asked for a photograph with them during the Winter Olympics in Cortina. The pair had just maintained their unbeaten record with a 7-4 victory over Sweden when the American musician approached them at half-time.
“We saw him at half-time. He asked for a photo with us, so I am feeling pretty good about myself,” Mouat said. When asked what Snoop had said to them, Dodds replied: “He heard about Bruce!”
Snoop, wearing a USA jacket featuring pictures of American curlers Danny Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, is an honorary coach for the US team and a special correspondent for NBC. He tried his hand at sweeping a stone and had carried the Olympic flame on Wednesday, having previously been a torchbearer at the Summer Games in Paris two years ago.
The US pair, Thiesse and Dropkin, beat Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman 7-5 in front of a raucous crowd. “It’s the Olympics, and our family and friends are here cheering us on. Snoop Dogg’s here cheering us on! The jacket was so cool. Loved it. Coach Snoop looked good today,” Dropkin said.
Snoop said: “I’m just here to cheer, uplift and maybe drop a little wisdom from the sidelines. Team USA athletes are the real stars. This team represents the best of what sport can be: talent, heart and hustle.” Mouat and Dodds were back in action later on Friday, comfortably beating Korea 8-2 in their fifth round-robin match.
In the figure skating team event, British ice dancers Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear moved into bronze position after the first round of the ice dance segment, performing to a Spice Girls medley. It marks their first time in the team event, and they hope to secure Britain’s first medal in the discipline since Torvill and Dean’s bronze in 1994.
