Athlete Thomas Ulsrud spotted wearing a Rolex

Few sporting arenas seem less likely to host a Rolex sighting than a curling sheet, yet Thomas Ulsrud — skip of the Norwegian men's curling team and one of the sport's most charismatic figures — was photographed wearing a stainless steel Rolex Submariner Date during what appears to be competition at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The image captures Ulsrud mid-delivery, intensity written across his face, the watch just visible on his wrist beneath his Norwegian team jacket.

The watch reads convincingly as a Rolex Submariner Date reference 16610. The composite image alongside shows the hallmarks clearly: a 40mm stainless steel Oyster case, unidirectional rotating bezel with aluminum black insert, matte black dial with applied luminous hour markers, and the date window at 3 o'clock framed by a Cyclops lens. The Oyster bracelet with solid-link construction and the overall case profile are consistent with late-production 16610 examples. The dial text — 'Submariner 1000ft=300m / Superlative Chronometer / Officially Certified' — aligns with this reference period.

The 16610 housed Rolex's calibre 3135, a self-winding movement with a 48-hour power reserve, Parachrom hairspring, and COSC chronometer certification. Waterproof to 300 metres via the Triplock crown system and screw-down caseback, it set the benchmark for tool-watch reliability across two generations of collectors. The reference ran from 1988 until it was superseded by the 116610LN with its scratch-resistant Cerachrom ceramic bezel in 2010 — the very year this sighting occurred.

Thomas Ulsrud led the Norwegian team to silver at the 2010 Vancouver Games and gold at the 2010 World Championships, becoming one of the sport's most recognizable ambassadors. His team's trademark loudly patterned trousers made them a fan favourite worldwide. That Ulsrud pairs the theatrical with the quietly classic — a tool Submariner rather than a flashier complication — says something genuine about his sensibility.

On the grey market, a clean late-production Rolex Submariner Date 16610 commands strong demand from collectors who prize the aluminum bezel aesthetic and the legendary 3135 movement. Examples in excellent condition with box and papers regularly trade between $12,000 and $16,000, with the most pristine examples pushing higher. The 16610 remains an entry point into vintage-adjacent Rolex collecting — unpretentious, robust, and entirely at home even on Olympic ice.