Curling at the Winter Olympics
Curling is a winter sport played by two teams or four players on a rectangular sheet ice with large heavy, polished granite stones. The teams take turns sliding the stones down the ice towards the target. Two sweepers with brooms also accompany each stone to help direct them. The aim is to get the stone to stop in 'the house', a target at the end of the ice track. Basically, the team with the most points in the match wins, with a point awarded for every stone closer than the other team's best effort.
USA curling teamCurling a has been on the official Winter Olympics program since the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games. It was also an official sport in 1924. For a long time the curling event at the 1924 Games was considered a demonstration event. It was not until 2006 that the IOC decided that curling was officially part of the program and retroactively awarded medals to the 1924 curling teams.
Curling was also a demonstration sport at the Winter Games of 1932, 1988 and 1992.
At the WInter Olympics, there are three medal events: a men's and women's event, and mixed doubles. A mixed doubles event was approved for inclusion in the 2018 Winter Olympics following an IOC Executive Board meeting in June 2015.
Trivia
- Canada created history in Sochi 2014 when it became the first nation to win both the men's and women's curling events in the same Olympics.
- Wheelchair curling is an event at the Winter Paralympics.
Related Pages
- Curling demonstration events at the Winter Olympics
- Curling Videos
- More Winter Olympics Sports
- More about the sport of curling
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