LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Swiss native who lives in Fayetteville has won a bronze medal in curling with Team Switzerland at the Winter Olympics.

Dominik Maerki, 27, who works as a clockmaker, celebrated with his team as they beat three-time defending champions Canada by a score of 7-5 at the Gangneung Curling Centre on Friday.

Curling is played by pushing heavy stones down the ice and involves a lot of strategy.

Maerki began playing the sport when he was five years old.

He’s the only Olympic athlete with Arkansas ties to bring home a medal from PyeongChang.

Maerki talked with our Aaron Nolan after the win and told him that his wife might not have been watching back home in Arkansas but she did put an ultimatum on his trip to the Olympics.

“She said after the last game that she’s not able to take, so yeah, I’m really happy. She said in the beginning, ‘you are only allowed to come back home with a medal,’ so yeah I’m able to go home now. I think I don’t really realize it right now, I’m just so happy that the team was able to perform so well at the right moment, and yeah I think I have to sleep one night to really realize what it means to have a bronze medal in the Olympics,” Maerki said.