Going for gold, with a heart to match

USA Curling doesn't keep track of these things, but it's probably safe to assume Chris Plys made history late last year. On a trip to Los Angeles, the curler from Duluth was asked out by a member of the Pussycat Dolls, and the president of Wilhelmina Models suggested Plys could have a future in front of the camera.

He even picked up a new nickname: "the cute one," bestowed by TV humorist Stephen Colbert. But on his way to bringing sexy back -- or, actually, introducing it to the Olympics' everyman game -- Plys hasn't allowed his head to outgrow his heart. His happiest day in the past few months came when his father, Patrick, was declared cancer-free. The trip to L.A. came in a close second, mostly because he won $6,500 on a reality-TV show to help pay for his parents to travel to the Vancouver Winter Games.

The alternate for the U.S. men's Olympic team never expected to become curling's rock star. Giving his sport a dose of pop-culture cool has been yet another happy surprise, in a year that feels like one big celebration.

"Going on the show was my way to say thanks to my parents," Plys said. "They've always been there for me, and it was rough when my dad was sick. But they've been really strong through the whole thing.

"All of this just came out of nowhere. To be asked to be part of the Olympic team was amazing, and to see the sport get all this publicity and air time on national programs is really exciting. It's been a really good year."

Patrick Plys didn't know of his son's plan to help finance his Olympic trip until a film crew pulled up to their home in Duluth last fall. Given his son's personality, it didn't surprise him a bit.

In January 2007, he had surgery for stage 3 astrocytoma, a type of brain tumor. That was followed by 40 days of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. His doctors suggested another 14 months of treatment to try to prevent a recurrence.

"It was 18 months of hell," said Plys, who owns a food brokerage. "You can either be scared to death, or you can take every part of your being and your spirituality and fight as hard as you can. We as a family had a great support network around us with our church community and our friends, and we were going to fight."

Patrick, who introduced Chris to curling when his oldest son was 11, was too ill to attend the 2008 world junior championships in Sweden. Chris skipped his Duluth-based team to the U.S. team's first world junior title since 1984. When Olympic skip John Shuster asked him to be the alternate for Vancouver, he wanted to make sure his dad and his mother, Laura, would be there.

Chris had heard about a new reality-TV show called "Bank of Hollywood," in which people ask a panel of wealthy celebrities for money to finance their dreams. He sent in an audition video; once he was selected, a crew came to film an interview with his family, and Chris headed to Los Angeles to appear on the show.

Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton, Wilhelmina President Sean Patterson and socialite Candy Spelling gave a thumbs-up to Plys' request for $6,500. "Do chicks dig curlers?" Patterson asked him. "Oh, yeah," Plys replied, as a gaggle of audience members in tube tops and leather pants applauded wildly.

On his team and on camera, Plys plays the outgoing, fun-loving jokester. He also is unusually thoughtful for a 22-year-old athlete, leaving his father touched but not surprised by his gesture.

"To think beyond yourself at that age is a phenomenal thing," Patrick Plys said. "He gives all of himself to everything he does. He's excelled in a lot of areas, but he wants to put others first."

Patrick and Laura Plys will pay it forward in Vancouver. They will spend three weeks there, serving coffee and hot chocolate to tourists during the Games and working with the homeless afterward.

In a sport that rewards maturity and experience, Plys already has compiled a gaudy résumé. Along with his 2008 world junior championship, he has won five U.S. junior titles, a gold medal with Shuster at the World University Games in 2007 and a bronze at the 2009 world junior championships.

Despite his taste of the glamorous life, Plys said he isn't ready to model anything but team uniforms in the near future. "Trying something like that is in the back of my mind," he said. "But being an athlete is at the forefront. I want to keep playing as long as I can and keep growing the sport. I guess I'm addicted to winning."

Rachel Blount • rblount@startribune.com