Olympians Seol Ye-eun, Bobby Lammie compete together at Rock League tournament

Olympians Seol Ye-eun of Korea and Bobby Lammie of Scotland, two curling athletes in a relationship that transcends borders, finally achieved their dream of competing together as one team in an official tournament on Sunday.

Seol Ye-eun, left, and Bobby Lammie play on the same team at a Rock League tournament held on April 13 in Toronto, Canada. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Olympians Seol Ye-eun of Korea and Bobby Lammie of Scotland, two curling athletes in a relationship that transcends borders, finally achieved their dream of competing together as one team in an official tournament on Sunday.

Seol, 30, and Lammie, 29, played together as members of a mixed four-person multinational team, called the Typhoon Curling Club (Typhoon CC), in the professional Rock League tournament held in Toronto, Canada. In the team's match against Northern United, Seol took the lead position while Lammie played second. Seol's Olympic teammate Gim Min-ji served as third, while Sweden Olympian Niklas Edin served as skip.

The Rock League is a unique competition featuring six teams based in Canada, Europe, the United States and the Asia-Pacific region, with each team consisting of 10 players — five men and five women — competing against one another. Seol formed Typhoon CC with Gim, her partner Lammie, Anna Hasselborg of Sweden and Chinami Yoshida of Japan.

The match featured rare scenes of Seol and Lammie sweeping together as teammates. Although Typhoon CC lost 2-5 to Northern United, the team advanced to the semifinals in third place overall and will face second-place Northern United again in a rematch.

Seol Ye-eun, left, and Bobbie Lammie pose for a selfie during the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, which Seol posted on her Instagram account on Feb. 23. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“It wasn’t our choice, but it seems the organizers intentionally placed us on the same team, considering that we are a couple,” Seol said, laughing. “It actually worked out well.”

Seol also spoke about her teamwork with Lammie.

“It was so fun to play together and sweep together,” said Seol. “Knowing that Lammie is a perfect sweeper made me feel very comfortable when delivering my shots,” adding, “We both enjoyed it and communicated well. Aside from one instance of a stone touch in the middle, it was perfect teamwork.”

Their relationship dates back three years to a Grand Slam tournament. Seol was impressed by Lammie’s sweeping and posted a clip of it on social media. After seeing it, Lammie sent a direct message and began actively pursuing Seol, sparking a cross-border romance.

Seol Ye-ji, Seol’s twin sister and a curling player who competed alongside Seol Ye-eun at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics as a national team teammate, calls Lammie her “brother-in-law,” while national team teammates refer to him as their “son-in-law Bob.”

The two drew attention when they both competed in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February.

Bobby Lammie, left, and Seol Ye-eun pose for a photo in front of the Olympic rings during the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which Seol posted on her Instagram account on Feb. 23. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Seol Ye-eun, a member of Korea’s women’s national curling team, narrowly missed the semifinals, finishing fifth, while Lammie, representing Britain’s men’s national team, won a silver medal for the second consecutive time.

“Our dream is to compete as a mixed doubles team in an international club tournament,” the two said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo during the Olympics.

Through the Rock League, they achieved their initial goal of competing together in a four-person event.

Now, they each aim to represent Korea and Britain at the 2030 French Alps Olympics and both win gold medals.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY PARK LIN [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]