From left: Matt and Becca Hamilton.Photo: Getty
For most Olympic athletes flying to Beijing next month, they’ll be traveling with teammates and coaches, alone. But Becca and Matt Hamilton, the United States' historic and captivating curling siblings, will have each other there for support — which they believe gives them a unique leg-up.
“We found out we’ll be able to go into other venues to watch each others' games. So honestly, we’re kind of at an advantage in that sense,” Matt, 32, tells PEOPLE about traveling to China alongside his younger sister Becca, 31, for their second Winter Olympics.The Hamilton siblings made history in Pyeongchang in 2018, leaving an entertaining mark on the competition in the first-ever Olympic mixed doubles curling tournament. The pair ultimately finished in sixth place, and had their mother, Cathy,pleading with them on Twitterto please “be friends” throughout the competition after some humorous bickering. The McFarland, Wisconsin, natives became a hit stateside, landing them on a weeks-long media tour after arriving back home, including a stop atThe Tonight Showwith Jimmy Fallon.This time around, in Beijing, the Hamilton siblings won’t be competing as a mixed-double team, but instead with the U.S. men’s and women’s teams — Matt helping defend the U.S. men’s gold medal victory in 2018, while Becca looks to assist the U.S. women’s team in securing their first medal overall.“We’re each other’s biggest cheerleaders and supporters in any way we can on the ice and off the ice, as well,” Matt says about his sister.“I’m very fortunate that I’ll have my sister there as a support system, while other people will be trying to figure out how to even call home or something. For me, I can just go over to the women’s team’s dorm and chat with Becca.” (A suggestion Becca immediately shuts down with a teasing laugh.)Ahead of their trip, the Hamiltons tell PEOPLE they’re obviously concerned about staying healthy amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s rapidly spreading omicron variant. “It’s tough and it’s tricky navigating this new situation,” Matt says, adding that he’s “not nervous for curling,” but rather “nervous about staying healthy until then.“The Hamilton siblings' lighthearted teasing may in fact help. Their playful demeanor between each other off the ice is immediately palpable, frequently cracking jokes while talking with PEOPLE between practice sessions. Those sessions can often be a polar opposite experience, where they both sharply criticize and coach each other up — something reflective of the intense gameplay they’ve also displayed as a team.
From left: Becca and Matt Hamilton.Peter Kneffel/picture alliance/Getty
From left: Jason Sudeikis and Becca Hamilton face off against Jimmy Fallon and Matt Hamilton on The Tonight Show in 2017.Andrew Lipovsky/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty
“The idea that Becca goes out there and plays at a high level forces me to do the same,” Matt says. “Sometimes when we practice together, things can be blunt and hard to hear at first. But she knows, and I know, that it’s in her best interest and that she’s got my best interest in mind.“But Becca still laughs when she describes Matt’s “crazy personality” on-and-off the ice, which has bled into his trademark look: a thick mustache, pristine-looking baseball cap, and a pair of flashy sneakers. Matt’s sometimes zany demeanor can often bring out the best in Becca’s fiercely measured approach, which has earned her two gold and two silver medals in the U.S. Women’s Championship tournaments and a bronze at last year’s World Championship.“I think it helps to have our two different personalities out there,” Becca says. “That’s part of why we work so well together: I’m the calm to Matt’s storm.” Matt, who himself has four gold medals at the U.S. championship level and a bronze at the World level, says their dynamic is something of a “coordinated chaos,” in which they constantly learn from each other.
From left: Matt and Becca Hamilton.Robert Cianflone/Getty
Becca says Matt is the one who got her interested in the sport initially in 2004 after he began curling the year prior. Both followed in the footsteps of their father, Scott, who has long casually played in tournaments at their local club in the Madison area. Scott even sports a jokes-first personality, like his son.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, beginning Feb 3, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
source: people.com
