For the fans, amateurs or the merely interested that wandered in off the street, the game was more than welcoming to the community at large with folks of all backgrounds and languages sharing their stories with the Standard-Examiner throughout round-robin play.

The bronze- and gold-medal contests are slated for Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. at the Ice Sheet.

Even on a Monday, just the fourth day of round-robin play at the sheet, Chinese curling superfans Lige, Ross and Daniel – three 20-somethings now working and living together in Canada – made the trip to Ogden from Vancouver to watch some of their favorite stars.

Key to the mission were autographs — lots of autographs.

China — led by captain Xu Xiaoming, a 41-year-old prominent Chinese curler, coach and a three-time Olympian (2010, 2014, 2026) — was on their short list.

“It begins with me I guess,” Lige said. “I found these old photos and I didn’t realize just how many of them were playing at the World Championships (in Ogden) just now. I thought it’d be funny to print them out and have them sign it. Since I printed two, I said why not print more and that gave them the idea to print even more.”

Originally from southern China, Lige didn’t invest much time in the sport until moving to Canada but has a vivid memory of his home country’s national women’s team’s 2009 World Championship victory in South Korea.

It wasn’t uncommon for neighbors to travel four-plus hours to curl, Lige said.

“It’s getting better the past five years, but I when I first got into this sport, there was only one or two curling rinks open to the public,” Lige said.

It’s one thing to meet the stars; it’s another to live and travel with them.

Ruth Mellemseter, wife of Norway coach Stein Mellemseter and mother of 27-year-old Norwegian curler Michael Mellemseter, was also seated in the house on Monday for just the second round robin she’d been able to catch since arriving in Utah the day before.

Ruth, along with Kristine Gorseth, the partner of Michael Mellemster, traveled from Oppdal, Norway, to watch their respective partners compete in the U.S. Their journey included a missed flight which took them to Los Angeles less than 24 hours before the start of Monday’s round.

“This is certainly the longest we’ve traveled,” Ruth Mellemster said. “We’ve been in Canada, but that was on the East Coast. We’ll go back to Toronto and back to Newfoundland.”

For Gorseth, who’s spending the entirety of her spring break following Michael and Norway’s run at Worlds, will hit the ground running on her coursework when she gets back. She says she’s used to it by now and they’re looking forward to trading the level, curling ice for the salt flats.

“For me, at least, it’s pretty much back when we get there,” Gorseth said of her classes. “If they’re not going to the semifinals, then we’ll go to Salt Lake City and the Salt Flats.”

Evidently, if folks want to watch curling, they’re going to watch curling.

But as for where or how these curling fanatics become such devoted stewards of the sport is another question. And, luckily, the Worlds event thought of that question in advance.

At this year’s championship, a handful of volunteers from Salt Lake City and its neighboring counties grabbed their inflatable curling stone hats and took to the Ice Sheet concourse wearing T-shirts prominently labeled “Ask Me About Curling!”

Daniel Butler, a native of the Salt Lake region, is one of those volunteers. Curling for two years, Butler stepped out of his own, busy schedule to volunteer for one of his newest passions.

“It’s very much strategy and trying to position (the stones),” Butler said of curling. “If you’re sweeping the stones, it’s a pretty decent workout (because) games are at least two hours long, so there’s a lot of strategy to it of how you play your stones.”

Like most curlers, whether in the U.S. or international, Butler’s path to the game started with a club, specifically the Oval Curling Club, which contends leagues and lessons using the very same stones used during the 2002 Winter Olympics.

It’s a largely accessible sport, too. The Oval’s “Learn to Curl” lessons start at only $30 for a two-hour, on-ice course which “teaches the fundamentals of curling,” according to the program’s official website. And unlike many of the international fans at this year’s Worlds championships, it’s a reasonable drive whether you’re from Ogden or Provo.

Folks interested in learning more about curling and how to get involved can visit ovalcurling.com or ogden-curling-club.com.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.