| Curling is a precision team sport | | | | Scotland between the sixteenth and the |
| similar to bowls or bocce, played on a | | | | nineteenth centuries as the climate |
| rectangular sheet of prepared ice by two | | | | provided good ice conditions every |
| teams of four players each, using heavy | | | | winter. |
| polished granite stones which they slide | | | | Scotland is home to the international |
| down the ice towards a target area | | | | governing body for curling, the World |
| called the house. Points are scored for | | | | Curling Federation, Perth, which |
| the number of stones that a team has | | | | originated as a committee of the Royal |
| closer to the center of the target than | | | | Caledonian Curling Club, the mother club |
| the closest of the other team's stones. | | | | of curling. |
| The level of precision and complex | | | | Today the game is most firmly |
| nature of the strategic thinking | | | | established in Canada, having been taken |
| required to win has led curling to be | | | | there by Scottish emigrants. The Royal |
| referred to as "chess on ice." | | | | Montreal Curling Club, the oldest active |
| Origins and history | | | | athletic club of any kind in North |
| Men Curling in Ontario in 1909The game | | | | America, was established in 1807. The |
| is thought to be invented in late | | | | first curling club in the United States |
| medieval Scotland, with the first | | | | began in 1832, and the game was |
| written reference to a contest using | | | | introduced to Switzerland and Sweden |
| stones on ice coming from the records of | | | | before the end of the nineteenth |
| Paisley Abbey, Renfrew, in February, | | | | century, also by Scots. Today, curling |
| 1541. Two paintings (both dated 1565 ) | | | | is played all over Europe and has spread |
| by Pieter Brueghel the Elder depict | | | | to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and |
| Dutch peasants curling (Scotland and the | | | | even the People's Republic of China and |
| Low Countries had strong trading and | | | | Korea. |
| cultural links during this period, which | | | | The first world curling championship in |
| is also evident in the history of golf). | | | | the sport was limited to men and was |
| The word curling first appears in print | | | | known as the "Scotch Cup" held in |
| in 1620 in Perth, Scotland, in the | | | | Falkirk and Edinburgh, Scotland, in |
| preface and the verses of a poem by | | | | 1959. The first ever world title was won |
| Henry Adamson. The game was (and still | | | | by the Canadian team from Regina, |
| is, in Scotland) also known as "the | | | | Saskatchewan, skipped by Ernie |
| roaring game" because of the sound the | | | | Richardson. (The skip is the team |
| stones make while traveling over the | | | | captain, see below.) |
| pebble (droplets of water applied to the | | | | Curling has been an official sport in |
| playing surface). The word derives from | | | | the Winter Olympic Games since the 1998 |
| the Scots language verb curr [2] which | | | | Winter Olympics. In February 2006, the |
| describes a low rumble (a cognate of the | | | | International Olympic Committee |
| English language verb purr). The word | | | | retroactively decided that the curling |
| does not take its name from the motion | | | | competition from the 1924 Winter |
| of the stones, which due to their | | | | Olympics (originally called Semaine des |
| deviation from a straight-line | | | | Sports d'Hiver or International Winter |
| trajectory are said to curl. | | | | Sports Week) would be considered |
| In the early history of curling, the | | | | official Olympic events and no longer be |
| rocks were simply flat-bottomed river | | | | considered demonstration events. Thus, |
| stones which were sometimes notched or | | | | the first Olympic medals in curling, |
| shaped; the thrower had little control | | | | which at the time was played outside, |
| over the rock, and relied more on luck | | | | were awarded for the 1924 Winter Games |
| than skill to win, unlike today's | | | | with the gold medal won by Great Britain |
| reliance on skill and strategy. | | | | and Ireland, two silver medals by Sweden |
| Outdoor curling was very popular in | | | | and the bronze by France. |