It was merely business as usual for Finland skip Markku Uusipaavalniemi when his team lost their first two games at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships. 

Time for another winning streak.

The Finns, Olympic silver medallists at Turin last February, won their next two matches and sat at 2-2 heading into Monday's late afternoon draw.

At the Olympic Games, the man they call U-15 -- after the eye-popping 15 letters in his surname -- was 2-2 before reeling off six straight wins en route to the final. The previous season, Uusipaavalniemi found himself losing early -- and often -- at every Olympic qualifying tournament (the Europeans and Worlds) but, again, managed to launch a stunning roll of victories.

"Sometimes it's slow, and then we get the better touch," the bespectacled skip confirmed. "Sometimes it matters against who we are playing, we have tough matches at the start. But we've won eight in a row after losing the first five many times, so it's not a problem.”

The curling life is not a problem for the towering blonde skip, who became a folk hero after scoring Olympic silver. Millions watched on television, websites sang the praises of "The Mighty Uusis" and tens of thousands lined up at his home-built curling club in Hyvinkaa, a project for which Uusipaavalniemi risked his career and life savings a few years ago.

"You need to have at least one crazy guy like me to build a curling club, or you cross your fingers and hope the media will pick up on curling and everybody gets interested," Uusipavaalniemi said.

"Then after the Olympics I get 100-150 emails a day and the same amount of phone calls. Big publishers are trying to get me to make a book. On average, two television programs a day.

"The Olympics can change a lot."

The Finns have a new lineup, which sees Olympic second Kalle Kiiskinen at third stone and sweeping, while Olympic alternate Jani Sullanmaa throws second and holds the brush for skip stones. Teemu Salo is the lead.

Olympic third Wille Mäkelä retired after Turin, claiming he could no longer afford to compete away from full-time employment.

"He (Mäkelä) has been 10 years my soulmate in curling and trusted third," Uusipaavalniemi said. "I'm hoping he will get worklife stability soon and get back to curling."

Finland sat in a five-way tie for third place after their 7-5 win over Sweden, along with Norway, Germany, the surprising Irish and the Swedes. Scotland and host Switzerland lead the pack at 4-0.

In women's play, Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott is mounting a comeback of her own after critical wins over Germany and the Netherlands. Ott is 2-3 after a horrendous start, tied with two other teams. Three squads are in third place at 3-2, while Scotland's Rhona Martin is in second at 4-1. The surprising Russians led by 20-year-old Ludmilla Privivkova are alone in first place at 5-0.