Did you hear about the 61-year-old from Glasgow who’s been captured moonwalking down the curling rink at the Winter Olympics?
Mark Callan shakes his head and laughs. It’s been quite a week or so for the Scot, who has been plastered all over various social media platforms in the course of doing his job.
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You might well have seen Callan. He is the guy with the back pack and hose, shuffling backwards down the sheet inside the near-empty Cortina Curling Stadium, spraying plumes of water into the air. Pebbling the ice, it’s called.
Some clips have been set to music, exaggerating his dainty movements. Parodies have appeared. One broadcaster from Norway, amid peals of laughter, described the chief ice technician as “scooting” down the sheet.
Safe to say the Bishopbriggs-native – who now lives with his partner and two-year-old child in Copenhagen – has not been spared by his friends and family either.
“They’ve been like ‘dearie me, what are you up to?'” the World Curling employee tells BBC Sport. “They’re quite enjoying seeing some of the things out there and some of the comments as well.
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“It seems to have just taken off but all I’m doing is my job. If, with all the doom and gloom in the world, it puts a smile on people’s face, then I’m fine with that.”
From Aberfoyle to the Winter Olympics
Being centre of attention at the Winter Olympics in northern Italy is a long way from an ice rink in Aberfoyle, where Callan had his first experience of curling at Forest Hills having been intrigued by seeing the sport on television.
That rink no longer exists, but Callan’s memories remain vivid. Mainly of him falling over a lot.
He kept going back, though, and one day curiosity got the better of him when he noticed someone pebbling the ice. “They explained what was going on and I wanted to learn more… and now I’m here.”
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So what actually is going on? And why the moonwalk?
Callan explains that he wears a gravity-fed backpack containing 15 litres of water, and his job is to sprinkle the ice with water droplets of different sizes. Those freeze almost immediately and are only removed by the furious sweeping of the players’ brushes.
The “sharp steps” – as he calls them – are to keep him balanced on the slippy surface and ensure the spread of water is as even as possible.
Callan has been at the rink in Italy since mid-January, having arrived at his fourth Olympics to find “a concrete floor and contractors everywhere” in what is usually an ice hockey venue.
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The quirky Cortina Curling Stadium used to be an open-air arena – hosting the 1956 Games – and, although a roof has since been added as part of the renovations, many of the original features remain, such as the wooden bleachers.
All that makes controlling the ice a particular challenge for Callan and his small team but the reception from players and fans alike has been warm.
“I think the word iconic is used a lot, and with the real mix of old and new, it’s just a phenomenal venue,” he says. “And it looks really good on TV as well.”