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Curling is from Scotland in the 1600s. Scotland's national winter sport is curling. Its nickname, The Roaring Game, came from the rumbling sound the stone makes when traveling across the ice. It is one of the oldest team sports. The earliest-known curling stones came from the Scottish regions of Sterling and Perth and date from 1511. In the 1600s stones with handles were invented. The first curling club was built in 1838. It was called The Grand Caledonian. Men’s curling was included in the Olympic Games in 1924. In the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Canada won gold, Great Britain won silver, and Sweden won bronze. Canada has won gold since the 2006 Olympics in Vancouver.
The playing surface is called the sheet. The sheet is usually around 150 feet long by about 15 feet wide. The sheet is covered with tiny droplets of water that become ice and cause the stones to move down a straight path. These water droplets are called pebble. Near each end is a circular goal called a house. The center of the house is called a button. A hole in the center of the house is the tee. Around the tee circle are scratched three rings. The largest has a radius of 12 feet. When the stone touches the pebble, there's some friction which can slow down the stone and makes it curl away from its path to the house. It is played on ice that has been made rough. The game consists of sliding special stones toward a target marked on the ice. The stone can weigh from 42-44 pounds.
There are two teams, called rinks, of four players each. The captain of each rink is called a skip. A hog line is a line 10 meters from the hack at each end of the ice. A hog line crosses the rink 21 feet in front of each tee. A stone must cross the hog line or it won’t get scored. Once all 16 stones have been delivered, the team with the stone that's closest to the button wins the end. If it lacks speed, two teammates may help it along by sweeping away the frost or moisture in front of it with brooms. Only this team will earn any points for the end. Olympic curling matches last for 10 ends unless there is a tie.
How are Curling Stones Made?
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2014 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling - Men's Playoff #1Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi: All you need to know about curling. |