A Celebration on Ice and Snow, Beijing 2022: Curling

Curling, which originated in Scotland, is a team sport in which players slide stones across ice towards a target area. It is a game of teamwork, strategy and tactics, and is nicknamed “chess on ice”.

The stones used in competition weigh 44 pounds and are made of granite from a specific island off the coast of Scotland. The ice is sprayed evenly with water droplets to create a pebbled surface. A distinctive part of the sport is the usage of a brush to sweep the ice in front of the sliding stone. This can affect the speed and direction of the stone as it travels towards the target.

In both men’s curling and women’s curling, each team consists of four onice players and one alternate. The team assigned red-handled stones wears dark-coloured jerseys while the team with yellow-handled stones wears lighter clothing. Each player alternates sliding two stones with the opponent, and each team sends eight in total. In mixed doubles curling, each team consists of two players, one male and one female, without alternates. Each team slides five stones.

Curling is played on a rectangular sheet of ice measuring 45.72m in length by 5.0m in width. Usually, four sheets of ice are laid out side by side in the same arena. A target, or the house, which consists of concentric rings, is marked at each end of a sheet. After each team sends its shots, the team closest to the centre of the house scores, and if they have more than one stone closer than the opponent, those stones count as well. Once all have been played, the team with the most points wins.

Copyright: the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022– A Celebration on Ice and Snow, translated by Xing Yutang