CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 11 (Reuters) - When Joel Retornaz guided Italy's men's curling team to seventh place and a famous win over Canada at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, he was a sprightly 22-year-old making his Olympic debut on home ice.
Fast forward two decades and the 42-year-old, now a veteran of the sport, finds himself in the remarkable position of leading his country again at a home Olympics, this time in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Asked what had changed in the intervening years, Retornaz said on Wednesday: "It's 20 years later, it means I'm 20 years older!
"I feel privileged because first of all, being an Olympian, not everybody can say that. Being a four-times Olympian is something unique and having the chance to compete twice in my country, I think that's something unique too.
"I'm really proud of it. It's different emotions now. I said jokingly, I'm 20 years older but I'm also 20 years more mature. I will give my experience to my teammates and I'll try to be my best here and represent my country. It's going to be fun."
Retornaz's Italy made a roaring start to their round-robin campaign, beating defending Olympic champions Sweden 7-6.
"We're ready, this is a team that can beat any team out there and we've shown it, we've beaten all the teams that are here representing our country so we do really have a strong team and we just need a good week," he said.
"We need to do everything in the right way. One of the keys is to have fun, because curling is fun and that's what we want to have. Of course, winning helps. We had a good start today so I'm happy about it...
"That's exactly the way we wanted to start the Olympics, we knew we were facing a strong team, not that the other teams are not strong, but defeating the Olympic champs, the European champs is a boost of confidence."
Italy face a stern test of their medal hopes when they next play on Friday, beginning with a game against tournament favourites Britain followed by a meeting with 2024 European champions Germany.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair; Editing by Ken Ferris)
