Christine Urech (born January 15, 1984 in

Biel/Bienne , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) ...

) is a Swiss curler from Lucerne. She won a gold medal at the 2014 and 2016 World Women's Curling Championships as

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

for Binia Feltscher.

Career

In her junior career, Urech played as fourth for Stéphanie Jäggi. They played in the

2004 World Junior Curling Championships The 2004 World Junior Curling Championships were held in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada from 20 March 2004 to 28 March 2004. The venue was the Colisée de Trois-Rivières The Colisée de Trois-Rivières is an arena in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Ca ...

, finishing in fifth place. She then played as third for

Irene Schori Irene Schori (born 4 December 1983) is a Swiss curler from Bremgarten. She currently plays third on Team Michèle Jäggi. Career Schori was named to the Swiss Olympic Team in 2010. She served as the alternate for Mirjam Ott's team in Vancou ...

until the 2007–08 season. She then moved to

Silvana Tirinzoni Silvana Petra Tirinzoni (born 25 June 1979) is a Swiss curler from Zurich. She is currently the reigning women's world champion skip having won the last three championships, in 2019, 2021 and . Tirinzoni also represented Switzerland at the 2022 ...

's rink to play second until the 2009–10, when she joined Binia Feltscher's rink. After one year, the team added

Franziska Kaufmann Franziska Kaufmann (born November 3, 1987 in Unterseen) is a Swiss curler from Grindelwald. She won a gold medal at the 2014 and 2016 World Women's Curling Championships as second for Binia Feltscher Career As a junior curler, Kaufmann play ...

, and Urech moved down to the lead position. Schori joined Feltscher's rink as third for the next season. The team went to the

2011 European Curling Championships The 2011 Le Gruyère European Curling Championships were held in Moscow, Russia from December 2 to 10.World Curling Tour The World Curling Tour (WCT) is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and mixed doubles curlers in the world. History The World Curling Tour was founded by former World Champion Ed Lukowich, with later assistance from John ...

event in 2013 at the

Glynhill Ladies International The Glynhill Ladies International (formerly the Braehead Ladies International) is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, that takes place at the Braehead Curling Rink in Renfrew, Scotland, just outside Glasgow. The tournament, sponsored b ...

. She also won the

Karuizawa International The Karuizawa International Curling Championships is a curling bonspiel held annually since the 1998 Winter Olympics, Olympic Games in Nagano at the Kazakoshi Park Arena, SCAP Karuizawa Arena in Karuizawa, Nagano, Kariuzawa, Japan. The bonspiel i ...

that season as well. The 2013–14 season was a breakthrough year for Urech and teammates Binia Feltscher,

and

. At the start of the season, the won the 2013

Red Deer Curling Classic The Prism Flow Red Deer Curling Classic is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, that takes place at the Red Deer Curling Club in Red Deer, Alberta. The tournament is held in a triple-knockout format. The men's tournament started in 1992 a ...

and made the playoffs of the

Stockholm Ladies Cup The Stockholm Ladies Cup, or the Stockholm Ladies Curling Cup is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, that takes place at the Danderyd Curling Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The tournament is held in a round robin with straight playoff form ...

and the

Women's Masters Basel The Women's Masters Basel (formerly the RE/MAX Women's Masters Basel and the Credit Suisse Women's Masters Basel) is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, that takes place at the Curlingzentrum Region Basel in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Th ...

. They also won the right to represent Switzerland at the

2014 World Women's Curling Championship The 2014 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as Ford World Women's Curling Championship 2014 for sponsorship reasons) was held from 15 to 23 March at the Harbour Station in Saint John, New Brunswick. Qualification The following nations ...

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...

, Urech's first World Championship. They had a great round robin, finishing in second with a 9–2 record, only losing to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. This sent them to the 1 vs 2 game against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Rachel Homan Rachel Catherine Homan (born April 5, 1989) is a Canadian international curler. Homan is a former Canadian junior champion, a three-time Canadian national champion, and the 2017 world champion, all as a skip. She was also the skip of the Can ...

which they would lose 8–3. Switzerland quickly rebounded in the semifinal against Korea's

Kim Ji-sun Kim Ji-sun (born June 27, 1987) is a South Korean curler from Gyeonggi Province. She was the skip of the 2014 South Korean Olympic Curling Team. Career Kim was a member of the silver medal-winning Korean team that won a silver medal at the 2 ...

setting up a rematch against Homan. After a slow first half, the Swiss team would score three points in the eighth end and steal three in the ninth, giving them a 9–5 lead going into the final end. They successfully ran the Canadians out of stones to secure Switzerland's fourth

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

title. The following season, Team Feltscher won the

2014 European Curling Championships The 2014 European Curling Championships were held November 22 to 29 at the Palladium de Champéry in Champéry, Switzerland. Switzerland last hosted the European Curling Championships in 2010, when it was also held in Champéry. The Group C com ...

by defeating Anna Sidorova in the final. They also played in three

Grand Slam of Curling The Grand Slam of Curling (branded as the Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling for sponsorship reasons) is a series of curling bonspiels that are a part of the annual World Curling Tour. Grand Slam events offer a purse of at least CAD$100,000, and fe ...

events, the first time playing in one for Urech. They qualified at both the 2014 Masters and the 2014 Canadian Open. They did not get to defend their title as World Champions, finishing 4–6 at the 2015

Swiss Women's Curling Championship The Swiss Women's Curling Championship is the national championship of women's curling in Switzerland. It has been held annually since 1964. List of champions *''World champions in bold'' *''Alternates in italics'' References Swiss Curling As ...

. The 2015–16 season started slow for the Swiss rink, only qualifying in three events at the start including winning the 2015 International ZO Women's Tournament. Things changed however when they won the Swiss championship and were back at the World Championships. They finished the round robin of the

2016 World Women's Curling Championship The 2016 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as the 2016 Ford World Women's Curling Championship presented by Meridian for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 19 to 27 at the Credit Union iPlex in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Team S ...

once again with a 9–2 but this time in first place, giving them hammer and choice of stones in the 1 vs 2 game. They defeated Japan's

Satsuki Fujisawa is a Japanese curler from Kitami, Hokkaido. As a skip, she has won the Japanese national championship six times. Fujisawa skipped the bronze medal-winning Japanese team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and the silver medal-winning team at t ...

to advance to the final where they would once again play the Japanese rink. Up 7–6 in the last end, they forced Fujisawa to draw for one to tie the game but she was to heavy, giving Urech and her team their second World Women's Curling Championship gold medal and title. The team ended their season by winning the 2016 Euronics European Masters. Team Feltscher won the right to represent Switzerland at the

2016 European Curling Championships The 2016 European Curling Championships were held from November 18 to 26 in Braehead, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Scotland last hosted the European Curling Championships in 2009 European Curling Championships, 2009 in Aberdeen. The Group C competition ...

but they did not qualify. They made the semifinal of the 2016 WFG Masters and finished second at the Swiss championship. After the season, Urech left the team and stopped competitive curling. Although she stopped playing full time, Urech has occasionally spared for the Elena Stern rink from Brig-Glis. She was Team Stern's alternate at the

2020 Swiss Women's Curling Championship The 2020 Swiss Women's Curling Championship, Switzerland's national women's curling championship, was held from February 9 to 15 in Thun, Switzerland. The winning Elena Stern team was supposed to represent Switzerland at the 2020 World Women's Cur ...

. They surprised many when they upset the defending world champion rink

three times and defeated them in the final 6–4. The team was set to represent Switzerland at the

2020 World Women's Curling Championship The 2020 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as the 2020 World Women's Curling Championship presented by Nature's Bounty for sponsorship reasons) was scheduled to be held from March 14 to 22 at the CN Centre in Prince George, Canada. O ...

before the event got cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Personal life

Urech is currently employed as an industrial designer. She is in a relationship with Mario Rohner.

Teams

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Urech, Christine 1984 births Living people Swiss female curlers World curling champions People from Biel/Bienne Sportspeople from Lucerne Continental Cup of Curling participants European curling champions