Winter Olympics: Curling
Think shuffleboard
on ice
by Mike Morrison and Christine Frantz
The sport of curling dates as far back as the
early 1500s in Scotland and was reportedly brought to North America by British
troops in the 1700s during the Revolutionary War.
Curling made its
Olympic debut at the original Olympic Games
in 1924. It came back in the 1932 Lake Placid
Games as a demonstration sport, but then went on a 56-year Olympic hiatus,
until it returned as a demonstration sport at the
1988 and 1992 Games. Curling was brought back
again as an official medal sport at the 1998
Nagano Games.
As far as the actual game goes, think shuffleboard
on ice combined with the strategy of a game of bowls or bocce.
Each
match is made up of ends, or periods, where two teams of four players each
take turns sliding 42-pound polished granite stones down a sheet of ice towards
a bullseye made up of four concentric circles. This bullseye, which is 12
ft in diameter, is known as the "house" and its center the "tee." The tee
is located 126 ft from where the shooter starts.
When the stone is
released by the shooter, it is done with a special technique that involves
a twist of the wrist. Like a bowling ball hooks (or curves) down an alley,
so too does the stone as it glides down the ice. This curve is known as the
"curl."
As the stone curls towards its intended target (perhaps the
tee, or perhaps an opponent's stone that happens to be in the way) the other
three team members sweep the ice with brooms, causing the stone to speed up
or change directions. The "skip" is the captain of the team and usually shouts
out sweeping instructions.
Each team member shoots twice, so there
are 16 shots in each end. A team scores points when its stones are closest
to the tee after all 16 shots. Each match consists of 10 ends.
In
2002, the Norwegian men and Great Britain's women were gold medalists. The
Canadian men and Swedish women took the gold at the 2005 World Championship,
but the second-place U.S. women gave the Swedes a tough match and look good
for medaling at Torino.
After Salt Lake City, curling showed a surge
in popularity both in the U.S. and abroad. In the U.S. new clubs formed in
places as unlikely as Texas, Arizona, and Tennessee. The U.S. Curling Association
membership grew by about 15%. And yes, there is a risqué
2006 calendar: women curlers from seven countries (none from the U.S.) posed
in the buff or scantily clad.
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