While the official opening ceremony is next Friday, March 6, the mixed doubles curling competition begins ahead of that — as it did in the recently concluded Winter Olympics — on Wednesday evening, and Villau and Riidebach are traveling this coming Sunday.

Villau and Riidebach, coached by Aleksander Andre, say they have been able to train properly ahead of the Games, while preparing for the Paralympics has not disrupted their usual training routine.

"It's not any different from usual. We are still working on refining our technique and reviewing the final weak spots, but overall I think we can say we are ready," said Riidebach. "In fact, I've said that we are still one year short of preparation, but yes, we are ready for this competition," Villau added.

The Paralympic curling tournament will be held in the same curling hall in Cortina where Estonia's mixed team of Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill competed earlier this month. Those achievements have also helped tune the Estonian curling pair into the Olympic mindset.

"The awareness that our own matches are getting closer definitely created a sense of nervous anticipation, but I have been trying to stay calm. The calmer you are, the better the games will turn out," Riidebach said.

Alongside the Estonian pair, teams from Italy, China, Great Britain, Japan, Latvia, South Korea and the U.S. are vying for medals. Those eight teams will, again as was the case with Kaldvee and Lill, play each other in a round-robin format, with the top four progressing to the semifinals. The Estonians' goal is to perform at their own level.

"The aim is to make our best shots so that our technique doesn't let us down. That's the only wish for ourselves," Riidebach explained. "It's about making the right shots and proving to ourselves that the whole training process has been correct," Villau noted.

In addition to Riidebach and Villau, the Estonian Paralympic Committee introduced four other Team Estonia members on Thursday for the send-off; though these others take part in the Summer Games, they are part of the X representation too. They are: swimmers Robin Liksor and Matz Topkin, and track and field athletes Egert Jõesaar and Tanel Visnap.

State postal service Omniva has also presented a new Paralympic-themed postage stamp.

The rules of mixed wheelchair curling are essentially the same as those of the able-bodied version, save for the absence of sweeping the ice while the stone is in motion. More on the rules of curling is here.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!