Elena Stern

{{Short description|Swiss curler (born 1994)}} {{Infobox curler | name = Elena Stern | image = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|11|8|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Wetzikon]], [[Switzerland]]<ref name="Media Guide">{{cite web |url=https://www.curling.ca/files/2020/03/2020-World-Womens-Curling-Championship-media-guide.pdf |title=2020 World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Curling Canada |access-date=2020-03-09 |quote= |archive-date=2020-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315003033/https://www.curling.ca/files/2020/03/2020-World-Womens-Curling-Championship-media-guide.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> | Curling club = [[Curling Club Oberwallis|CC Oberwallis]], [[Brig-Glis]] | Skip = | Fourth = | Second = | Lead = | Alternate = | Member Association = {{SUI}} | World Championship appearances = | European Championship appearances = 1 ({{EuCC|2015}}) | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Women's [[curling]] }} {{MedalCountry | {{SUI}} }} {{MedalCompetition | [[Winter Youth Olympics]]}} {{MedalGold | [[2012 Winter Youth Olympics|2012 Innsbruck]] | }} {{Medal|Competition | [[World Junior Curling Championships|World Junior Championships]] }} {{MedalBronze | [[2015 World Junior Curling Championships|2015 Tallinn]] | }} }}

'''Elena Stern''' (born 8 November 1994) is a retired [[Switzerland|Swiss]] [[curling|curler]] from [[Zürich]].<ref name="Media Guide"/>

==Career== Stern first represented Switzerland on the international stage at the [[Curling at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics – Mixed team|2012 Winter Youth Olympics]] where her team of [[Michael Brunner]], [[Romano Meier]] and [[Lisa Gisler]] won the gold medal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.olympic.org/elena-stern|title=Elena Stern Olympic Profile|website=Olympic|access-date=October 5, 2019}}</ref> [[2014 World Junior Curling Championships|In 2014]], she played in her first [[World Junior Curling Championship]] as the alternate for [[Corina Mani]]. They lost the tiebreaker 7–6 to Sweden's [[Isabella Wranå]]. She returned the following season at the [[2015 World Junior Curling Championships]], this time as lead for [[Lisa Gisler]]. Her Swiss team won the bronze medal. [[2015 European Curling Championships – Women's tournament|In 2015]] she also played in her first [[European Curling Championship]] as alternate for [[Alina Pätz]]. She did not play in any games. Stern returned for her third consecutive year to the World Juniors at the [[2016 World Junior Curling Championships]]. She skipped her team to a 4–5 record, missing the playoffs.

Stern made back to back appearances at the [[World Mixed Curling Championship]] [[2016 World Mixed Curling Championship|in 2016]] and [[2017 World Mixed Curling Championship|2017]]. In 2016, they lost in the quarterfinals and in 2017 they missed the playoffs. She also skipped the Swiss team to a fourth-place finish at the [[Curling at the 2017 Winter Universiade|2017 Winter Universiade]].

The [[2018–19 curling season|2018–19 season]] was a breakout year for Stern and her team of fourth [[Briar Hürlimann]], second [[Lisa Gisler]] and lead [[Céline Koller]]. They played in four [[Grand Slam of Curling]], and won the [[2018 Tour Challenge]] Tier 2 and the 2018 [[Women's Masters Basel]] [[World Curling Tour]] events.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Team&eventid=5315&teamid=126487&profileid=|title=Stern wins 2018 GSOC Tour Challenge Tier 2|website=CurlingZone|access-date=October 5, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/post.php?postid=2141|title=Elena Stern wins Womens Masters Basel|website=CurlingZone|access-date=October 5, 2019}}</ref>

Team Stern followed their great season with an even better one for the [[2019–20 curling season|2019–20 season]]. They had a quarterfinal finish at the [[2019 Cameron's Brewing Oakville Fall Classic]]. They missed the playoffs at their next three events, the 2019 [[Stu Sells Oakville Tankard]], the [[2019 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic]] and the inaugural [[2019 WCT Uiseong International Curling Cup|WCT Uiseong International Curling Cup]]. Next, Team Stern played in the [[2019 Canad Inns Women's Classic]] and qualified for the playoffs threw the C side. They successfully defeated [[Eve Muirhead]] in the quarterfinals, [[Silvana Tirinzoni]] in the semifinals and [[Rachel Homan]] in the final to win the event. They also won the [[International Bernese Ladies Cup]] and the [[Schweizer Cup (curling)|Schweizer Cup]]. For the first time ever, they qualified for the playoffs at a Grand Slam event where they lost to [[Tracy Fleury]] in the quarterfinals at the [[2019 Masters (curling)|Masters]]. They also qualified for the playoffs as the number one seed at the [[2019 National|National]] but they also lost in the quarterfinals, this time to [[Satsuki Fujisawa]]. Team Stern surprised many when they upset the defending world champion rink [[Silvana Tirinzoni]] in the [[2020 Swiss Women's Curling Championship]] 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]] before the event got cancelled due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.tsn.ca/cp-newsalert-world-women-s-curling-championship-cancelled-1.1456723|title=World Women's Curling Championship Cancelled|website=The Sports Network|author=The Canadian Press|date=March 12, 2020|access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://worldcurling.org/2020/03/wwcc2020-cancelled/|title=World Women's Curling Championship 2020 cancelled in Prince George, Canada|date=March 12, 2020|website=World Curling Federation|access-date=March 20, 2020|archive-date=March 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314163901/https://worldcurling.org/2020/03/wwcc2020-cancelled/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Swiss championship would be their last event of the season as both the [[Players' Championship]] and the [[Champions Cup (curling)|Champions Cup]] Grand Slam events were also cancelled due to the pandemic.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thegrandslamofcurling.com/gsoc-cancels-remaining-events-of-2019-20-season/|title=GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season|website=Grand Slam of Curling|publisher=Grand Slam of Curling|date=March 13, 2020|access-date=March 20, 2020|archive-date=May 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530043812/https://thegrandslamofcurling.com/gsoc-cancels-remaining-events-of-2019-20-season/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Stern and her team began the abbreviated [[2020–21 curling season|2020–21 season]] by winning the [[2020 Schweizer Cup]], defeating Team Tirinzoni in the final.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/post.php?postid=2673#1|title=Elena Stern repeats as Schweizer Cup champions|website=CurlingZone|access-date=April 26, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|UW_dDuPX3Mo|'''Video''' (full game): 2020 Schweizer Cup - Final - Silvana Tirinzoni (Aarau) vs Elena Stern (Oberwallis)}}</ref> The team next played in the [[2020 Women's Masters Basel]], losing in the semifinals to [[Raphaela Keiser]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.curling-is-fun.ch/a.html|title=2020 Women's Masters Basel Scoreboards|website=Rinkmaster|access-date=April 26, 2021}}</ref> Two weeks later, they competed in the 2.0 Cup, a men's tour event as the sole women's team. They lost in the C Qualifier game to Sweden's [[Fredrik Nyman]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/event.php?view=Team&eventid=6736&teamid=149536&profileid=|title=Stern 2–3 at 2.0 Cup|website=CurlingZone|access-date=April 26, 2021}}</ref> At the [[2021 Swiss Women's Curling Championship]], the team could not defend their title, losing all five of their matches against the Tirinzoni rink.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.curling-results.ch/resultat/scl/2020-21/frauen/sm/|title=2021 Swiss Women's Curling Championship Results|website=Swiss Curling Association|access-date=April 26, 2021|archive-date=February 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225215209/https://www.curling-results.ch/resultat/scl/2020-21/frauen/sm/|url-status=dead}}</ref> As they had won the Swiss Championship in 2020 but could not participate in the World Championship due to the cancellation, Team Stern played Team Tirinzoni in a best-of-five series to determine which team would represent Switzerland at the [[2021 World Women's Curling Championship]]. Tirinzoni defeated Stern three games to zero in the series, earning themselves the spot at the World Championship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.curling-results.ch/resultat/scl/2020-21/frauen/wm-trials/|title=2021 Swiss Women's Curling Trials|website=Swiss Curling Association|access-date=April 26, 2021|archive-date=April 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426183356/http://www.curling-results.ch/resultat/scl/2020-21/frauen/wm-trials/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Stern and her team ended their season at the [[2021 Champions Cup (curling)|2021 Champions Cup]] and [[2021 Players' Championship]] Grand Slam events, which were played in a "curling bubble" in [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]], with no spectators, to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thegrandslamofcurling.com/humptys-champions-cup-start-moved-to-thursday/|title=Humpty's Champions Cup start moved to Thursday|publisher=Grand Slam of Curling|author=Jonathan Brazeau|date=April 12, 2021|access-date=April 26, 2021|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513001106/https://thegrandslamofcurling.com/humptys-champions-cup-start-moved-to-thursday/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The team finished winless in the Champions Cup and made the quarterfinals at the Players'.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thegrandslamofcurling.com/gushue-eliminates-edin-to-reach-players-championship-semis/|title=Gushue eliminates Edin to reach Players' Championship semis|publisher=Grand Slam of Curling|author=Jonathan Brazeau|date=April 24, 2021|access-date=April 26, 2021}}</ref>

Stern retired from competitive curling in 2021, after not qualifying to represent Switzerland at the [[2022 Winter Olympics]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CP6UPeUjx2E/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CP6UPeUjx2E |archive-date=2021-12-24 |url-access=registration|title=After 20 years of curling ... I decided to step back from competitive curling. |publisher=elenaxstern|website=Instagram|date=June 9, 2021|access-date=June 9, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Personal life== Stern works as a communications officer.<ref name="Media Guide"/>

==Grand Slam record== {{Curling GS key}} {{clear}} {| class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Event ! [[2018–19 curling season|2018–19]] ! [[2019–20 curling season|2019–20]] ! [[2020–21 curling season|2020–21]] |- | [[Masters (curling)|Masters]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#ffebcd;"| [[2019 Masters (curling)|QF]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |- | [[Tour Challenge]] |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2018 Tour Challenge|T2]] |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2019 Tour Challenge|Q]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |- | [[National (curling)|The National]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| DNP |style="background:#ffebcd;"| [[2019 National|QF]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |- | [[Canadian Open (curling)|Canadian Open]] |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2019 Canadian Open (curling)|Q]] |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2020 Canadian Open (curling)|Q]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |- | [[Champions Cup (curling)|Champions Cup]] |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2019 Champions Cup|Q]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2021 Champions Cup (curling)|Q]] |- | [[Players' Championship|Players']] |style="background:#afeeee;"| [[2019 Players' Championship|Q]] |style="background:#EFEFEF;"| N/A |style="background:#ffebcd;"| [[2021 Players' Championship|QF]] |}

==Teams== {| class="wikitable" |- ! scope="col"| Season ! scope="col"| Skip ! scope="col"| Third ! scope="col"| Second ! scope="col"| Lead |- ! scope="row"| 2013–14<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.curlingzone.com/player.php?playerid=28518&view=Teams#1|title=Elena Stern Past Teams|website=CurlingZone|access-date=October 5, 2019}}</ref> | Elena Stern || [[Anna Stern (curler)|Anna Stern]] || [[Noëlle Iseli]] || [[Tanja Schwegler]] |- ! scope="row"| 2014–15 | Elena Stern || Anna Stern || Noëlle Iseli || Tanja Schwegler |- ! scope="row"| 2015–16 | Elena Stern || Anna Stern || Noëlle Iseli || Tanja Schwegler |- ! scope="row"| 2016–17 | [[Briar Hürlimann]] (Fourth) || Elena Stern (Skip) || Anna Stern || [[Céline Koller]] |- ! scope="row"| 2017–18 | Briar Hürlimann (Fourth) || Elena Stern (Skip) || [[Lisa Gisler]] || Céline Koller |- ! scope="row"| 2018–19 | Briar Hürlimann (Fourth) || Elena Stern (Skip) || Lisa Gisler || Céline Koller |- ! scope="row"| 2019–20 | Briar Hürlimann (Fourth) || Elena Stern (Skip) || Lisa Gisler || Céline Koller |- ! scope="row"| 2020–21 | Briar Hürlimann (Fourth) || Elena Stern (Skip) || Lisa Gisler || Céline Koller |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Sports links}} * [https://teamstern.ch/ Team Stern's Home Page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805165004/https://teamstern.ch/ |date=2020-08-05 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Elena}} [[Category:Swiss female curlers]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1994 births]] [[Category:Curlers from Zurich]] [[Category:Curlers at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Wetzikon]] [[Category:Youth Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland]] [[Category:Swiss LGBTQ sportspeople]]  [[Category:Lesbian sportswomen]] [[Category:LGBTQ curlers]] [[Category:Competitors at the 2017 Winter Universiade]] [[Category:21st-century Swiss sportswomen]]