SOCHI, Russia — Among the things that a curling team would not seem to need, an official athletic trainer might rank with a beach umbrella and a maid to sweep up after the athletes. But here is Brian McWilliams, a certified athletic trainer, on hand to treat any injury that might befall an American curler.

He knows what you are thinking.

“I get that all the time: ‘What injuries do they have?’ ” McWilliams said. “You know, it looks so simple. But it’s really a unique and difficult sport.”

There are certainly events at these Winter Games that require sophisticated medical assistance. Athletes have sustained severe injuries in violent crashes in slopestyle skiing and moguls, and danger looms over the sliding sports like luge because of the speeds attained. Curling? Less so.

The United States and Britain are the only delegations here with trainers devoted solely to their curling teams. The Canadian team, a longtime powerhouse in the sport, relies on staff shared with other athletes, and the Russian team enjoys home-court access to a variety of medical and training professionals.