Women of curling become surprise stars of the Games

Vancouver is being turned into Van-cougar as the Olympics surprise stars - the curlers - compete to packed out stadiums, while traditional glamour sports like figure skating go unwatched.

Much has been made of the visibly empty seats at the Pacific Coliseum for the pairs figure skating final - where Canadian duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir battled to a surprise gold. In contrast a sell out and biased crowd reduced a Danish curler to tears as her team were defeated by Canada on Monday.

[javascript:void(window.open('http://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/gallery/-/6853423/-1','playerWindow','width=750,height=635,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no')) In photos: The women of curling]

Vancouver's provincial newspapers have already declared these Olympics the 'Hottie Games' - this is nothing new but the stars who are grabbing all the attention may surprise.

Cheryl Bernard, 43, is just one of the many women's curlers grabbing headlines in Canada.

The Chicago Tribune has dubbed the insurance broker and mother of two a "sex symbol", while the Globe and Mail says she should co-star on "Cougar Town" with Courteney Cox.

ESPN announcer Bill Simmons has even coined the term "Curlgar" to describe her.

Bernard speaking to Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel was unaware of the stir she was creating.

"I have heard lots about how fit the players are, and how fit the men's players are, and I think that's a good thing for curling."

Bernard didn't mind that people were checking her out.

"It's hard work [staying in shape], so that's fine for them to notice," Bernard said. "I think it's good for the sport, and I think they are noticing it throughout all the players."

Meanwhile the traditional glamour girls of the Olympics - the figure skaters and skiers have drawn a little less of the attention than usual.

Read Dan Wetzel's column.