Photo by Jim Muchlinski Tyler George of Duluth, left, shows off his Olympic gold medal to one of the attendees at the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce speaker series event at the Red Baron Arena Wednesday. George’s team won gold at the 2018 Olympic Games in South Korea.

MARSHALL — Tyler George knows exactly what it means to be the best.

The Duluth native was part of the gold medal U.S. curling team at the 2018 Olympic Games in South Korea. He shared details about his career and his winning team Wednesday at the Marshall Chamber of Commerce Speaker Series.

Besides his Olympic gold, George is a three-time national champion and a former junior champion. He won bronze medals at two world championships.

He is currently retired from competition. He serves as a national curling board member and as a broadcaster. His goal is to promote curling as a winter sport.

Curlers slide 42-pound stones along a rink that measures 140 feet in length. They train extensively to develop strength.

“It’s more strenuous than people think,” George said. “People are usually sore after trying it the first few times. It’s a way to stay in shape.”

He said he was “raised on the sport” and began to compete at age 10. His parents directed a curling club in Duluth.

The Olympic Games are considered the pinnacle of curling competition. In between Olympics, curlers compete the national and world championships.

“The Olympics are the end goal,” George said. “I just wanted to get there, even if I didn’t medal. If I could become an Olympian it would be something I’d have for the rest of my life. I could be at peace.”

His journey to South Korea began to take shape in 2014. National curling officials decided to hold a tryout camp to select 10 men and women players to become the national team.

George opted to help put a team together on its own. He took that step because of the importance of having the right combination of people on any curling team.

“I didn’t try out (for the national camp),” he said. “I didn’t think it would work to just throw people together at random. The chemistry is very important, so we decided to start our own team. We know it would either succeed beautifully or fail miserably.”

His team went on to win competitions. At that point they were asked to join the national team. They agreed on the condition that their four-member team be kept together.

“It was an easy decision for them to make,” George said. “If our team had stayed on its own and kept winning, the committee would no longer have jobs.”

He said curlers generally show plenty of emotion when they compete. It leads to a vitality that pushes all team members to be their best.

“A team is most likely to succeed when everyone knows their role,” he said. “It can then run like a well-oiled machine. Nobody has to take on extra tasks because everyone does their part.”

One of the highlights of his career was the Olympic qualifying. When his team made it, he said they celebrated hard and that he cried with family members.

He said the opening ceremony was different than expected because of spotlights. With the lighting, at first it seemed like walking into an empty stadium. It only seemed natural when athletes entered and saw the crowd.

He found that the pressure went off when the team reached the gold medal game because they were guaranteed at least a silver medal. No matter what, they’d have the best finish of any United States curling team in history.

The gold medal game gave the team attention that it had never had before, including calls from celebrities and Olympic champions.

Throughout the competition, the team relied on its unity to win matches. They found that talent alone was not enough to reach its full potential.

“The other team had more talent in the gold medal game,” George said. “We won because we were more of a team. We had the most team spirit.”

He said success at any sport rests with the ability to get into a routine and stay with it. The same factor holds true with any type of job.

“It involves focusing on the routine,” he said. “That’s the best mindset. It makes us ready to succeed.”

Another key to success involves managing doubts. He considers it important to admit to having them, but that they shouldn’t get in the way of a goal.

“Sports psychology has become more focused on mental health,” he said. “Athletes used to think they had to just play through it. Now we’ve realized it takes more strength to put the doubts on the table.”

Josh Johnson of Thrivent Financial in Marshall came up with the idea to invite George to a Chamber event. He said curling has a following in the Marshall area with a local curling club.

“I was aware of Tyler from how he’s been a guest on the radio,” Johnson said. “We have a curling club and he promotes curling. Based on that we made the connection. I’m glad we could bring him to town.”