Top sports moments of 2023: Niklas Edin and the shot that changed curling forever

Sweden’s Niklas Edin had two choices.

Down 5-7 in the 10th end during a round-robin game against Norway at the 2023 World Men’s Curling Championships in April, the picture before the skip on his final throw was an ugly one.

The only Swedish stone in the house was tucked frozen behind a Norwegian, lying one. In front of those were two Sweden corner guards.

With a score of two an absolute minimum to send the game into an extra end the decision was clear: go for a handshake or try for the impossible.

Calculating the risk, Edin went for the shot.

But before he let go of the rock, he spun the handle rapidly to send the rock spinning down the ice. It seemed such an absurd attempt that chuckles bubbled up from the crowd.

A typical throw might see the rock rotate three or four times but Edin’s resembled a top as it made its way towards the house. The disbelief lingered.

But against the odds, which Edin admitted after could have been about a thosand to one, the Swede’s super spinner struck the Norwegian counter and the rock spun up and off Sweden’s own. The extreme rotation had a gear effect, effectively unfreezing the stone.

But that was only one part of the equation complete.

After hitting its intended target, the yellow stone then remarkably came to a halt by spinning back on itself to finish millimetres in front of the remaining Norwegian rock.

The needed two points were secured and the crowd erupted with a mix of jubilation and awe.

In the moments, minutes and months that have followed Edin’s final throw very few have held back their praise.

It has been dubbed the ‘greatest' and ‘craziest’ shot of all time with many lauding not just its execution but its audacity, given the stakes at play.

In an interview with Olympics.com ahead of the European Championships, world champion Bruce Mouat - a familiar foe of Edin’s - shared his thoughts on the debate.

“It was incredible,” the Scot reflected. “It’s perhaps the best shot that we're ever going to see in curling.

“It's so hard to describe for someone who maybe doesn't curl, but we talk about angles, and there's a lot of almost physics that comes into curling because of the way it curls and the way you spin it and things like that. But to even be able to see that shot, let alone make it, is very rare.”

More than just another voice in the chorus of approval Mouat, who says he has attempted a few unsuccessful spinners in his time, thinks there is more to Edin’s daring.

While it isn’t uncommon for curling’s elite to practise throws such as Sweden’s in training, deploying it with conviction during competition is an entirely different feat. Not least because being able to do it confidently opens up possibilities many would have disregarded had they faced a similar situation.

In other words, Edin's shot might just have revolutionised curling forever.

“Because he’s made that shot, a lot of teams are now going to start to think, ‘Oh I can actually make this if I spin it the way that he did',” Olympic silver medallist Mouat explained. “There's almost going to become a new way of making shots and a new way to practise making shots that Niklas has almost started.

“We could quite well see a lot of people starting to throw these kind of shots.”

Mouat is not alone in that belief.

Speaking to The Curling News at the time, former Finnish men’s team skip Tom Rantamäki, who has been known to experiment, remarked how spin was used in other professional sports like golf.

If teams research the impact of spin and the effect it can have on different rotations, as the Swedes revealed they had done, new dimensions can open up.

“More teams will follow,” the curler said. "It is needed in the future to make the difference in tight games."

It means that Edin's shot, monumental in its delivery and scope and easily the shot of 2023 in the international arena, might just be a game-changer.

And as teams pause to take stock over the festive season and the New Year, more shots like Sweden's spinner may well emerge in 2024.