Curling

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 There is a women’s and men’s event in the Winter Olympics.  The game is played on ice.  Two teams play against each other at a time.  Each team takes turn pushing a 19.1kg stone towards a series of concentric rings or target.  The goal is to place the stone closes to the center of target on the ice.  The game of curling was already in existence in Scotland in the early 16th century, as evidenced by a curling stone inscribed with the date 1511. In the early history of curling, the rocks were simply flat-bottomed river stones that were sometimes notched or shaped; the thrower had little control over the rock, and relied more on luck than skill to win, unlike today's reliance on skill and strategy.


How it works

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The game consists of 10 ends, similar to endings.  The stone is slid across the ice and then two members use brushes in front of the sliding to guide the stone to the desired location.  The team with the most stones closest to the center after 10 ends is the winner.  After each team delivers eight rocks, the team gets a point for every rock they have closer than the opponents to the center of the target. 

Equipment

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Players must wear slider shoes that usually have a leather or vinyl sole.  A broom or brush is used to smooth the ice in front of the curling stone to keep it on a strategic path.  The curling stone is made of granite weighing 19.kg.  A hack is what the person sliding the stone uses to for traction on the ice. Other types of equipment a curler may utilize include: 1) Curling pants, made to be stretchy to accommodate the curling delivery. 2) A stopwatch to time the rocks whilst sweeping to get a feel of the speed of the rock. Stopwatches can be attached either to clothing or the broom itself. 3) Curling gloves and mittens, to keep the hands warm and improve grip on the broom. 

Making and maintaining perfect ice conditions at a curling club is as much art as science. Most curling clubs have an ice maker, whose main job is to care for the ice. At the major curling championships, ice maintenance is extremely important. It is common for each sheet of ice to have multiple sensors embedded in order to monitor surface temperature, as well as probes set up in the seating area (to monitor humidity) and in the compressor room (to monitor brine supply and return temperatures).

Vancouver 2010

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This year, the Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver.  Curling is specifically being held at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.  The favored team this February is the team from Canada.  Canada has been one of the top competitors of the Winter Olympic Games for the sport of Curling with two gold medals, two silver medals, and 2 bronze medals.