GANGNEUNG, South Korea — The fans at Gangneung Curling Arena stood and waved South Korean flags and handmade signs in a salute to their women’s curling team and their unexpectedly strong showing at the Games.
The final between South Korea and Sweden already was something like a “Miracle on Ice” moment, a sporting event that felt like a national pride rally for South Koreans.
By the time they outlasted Japan in an emotionally draining semifinal, the South Korean curlers, called the “Garlic Girls” in the local news media for their pluck and origins in a garlic-growing region, had inspired scores of online tributes from compatriots mimicking them by sweeping the floor with broomsticks in front of their televisions.