Olympic Curling

Perhaps the most prestigious event in curling is the Olympics. Curling was first introduced into the winter Olympics in 1924. In these games Britain won gold, Sweden won silver and the french won bronze. Curling was next seen in the 1932 winter Olympics where a demonstrative tournament was held. In this tournament Canada won 12 out of 16 games against the United States. Curling was finally made an official event at the Olympics in 1998. It has been an Olympic event.

origins and early history

Curling is said to have been invented in medieval Scotland and is first found in the records of Paisley Abbey in 1541. The first piece of evidence of curling in Scotland is a curling stone with the date 1511 found with another one marked with the date 1551. The name of the sport first appeared in Perth, Australia, in 1620. Curling was the verb for the noun Curl which describes the movement of the stone. In some regions curling is known as the roaring game because of the sound the stone makes while traveling. In the early days the thrower relied more heavily on luck than on skill and strategy

Curling Equipment

There are many pieces of curling equipment, each with its own special role. Some of them include:

-The curling stone-often called a "rock" is a round polished piece of granite. this is slid across the ice and is aimed at the target painted on the ice. This stone weighs on average about 19.96 kg

-The curling broom-This is a broom pushed in front of the curling stone in an attempt to limit friction between the ice and the rock. It is pushed by the sweepers who run along side the curling stone sweeping the ice.

-Shoes-The slider shoes are meant to eliminate friction between the ice and the sole which is usually made out of Teflon. The hack shoe helps the sweepers get traction to push themselves along. these dig into the ice for traction.

-Curling pants-These pants are stretchy to improve movement

-Curling Gloves-these gloves are made to be warm and improve grip on the stone

What do you think is the most important piece of equipment

overveiw

In the sport of curling stones are pushed across ice with the intention of hitting a circular target painted on the ice. There are two teams of four players each. Each team has eight stones made of polished granite. The point of the game is to score the highest amount of points by getting the stone closest to the middle of the taget. Two sweepers go along with brooms and sweep the path for the stone hoping it reduces friction. The team must work together and have a good strategy in order to get the rock where they want it.