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