Did you hear about the 61-year-old from Glasgow who was photographed moonwalking on the curling rink at the Winter Olympics?
Mark Callan shook his head and smiled. It’s been a week or so for the Scot, who has been hanging out on various social media platforms in the course of his work.
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Chances are you’ve met Karan. He was the man with a backpack and hose, shuffling backwards along the sheets inside the nearly empty Cortina curling stadium, spraying jets of water into the air. This is called “paving stones on ice.”
Some sequences are set to music that exaggerates his graceful movements. Copycats have emerged. A broadcaster from Norway described the chief ice technician as “gliding” on the sheets amid laughter.
It’s safe to say the Bishop Briggs native, who now lives in Copenhagen with his partner and two-year-old child, said his friends and family were not spared.
“They were like ‘Honey, what are you doing?'” a World Curling staff member told BBC Sport. “They really enjoyed seeing some of the things and some of the comments there.
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“It seems to have just taken off, but all I do is do my job. With all the doom and gloom in the world, if it puts a smile on people’s faces, then I’m on board with it.”
From Aberfoyle to the Winter Olympics
Being in the spotlight of the Winter Olympics in northern Italy was a long way from the rinks of Aberfoyle, where Callan got his first taste of curling at Forest Hill and was intrigued by the sport on television.
That rink no longer exists, but Callan’s memory remains vivid. Mainly because he fell down a lot.
Still, he kept going back, and one day his curiosity got the better of him when he noticed someone laying stones on the ice. “They explained what happened and I wanted to know more…and now I’m here.”
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So what exactly happened? Why moonwalk?
Callan explained that he wears a gravity backpack containing 15 liters of water, and his job is to spread water droplets of different sizes onto the ice. They freeze almost instantly and can only be removed by the player swiping hard with a brush.
The “sharp steps,” as he calls them, are meant to allow him to balance on the smooth surface and ensure the water spreads as evenly as possible.
Callan has been on the ice in Italy since mid-January, competing in his fourth Olympics, and has found “concrete floors and contractors everywhere” among the usual ice hockey venues.
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The quirky Cortina Curling Stadium was once an open-air arena that hosted the 1956 Olympics, and although a roof was later added during renovations, many of the original features remain, such as the wooden stands.
All of which made controlling the ice a special challenge for Callan and his small team, but the response from players and fans was overwhelming.
“I think ‘iconic’ is a word that’s used a lot, and there’s a real blend of old and new, and it’s an extraordinary venue,” he said. “And it looks good on TV.”
