page_title: Curling
section_title: Olympic curling
hierarchical_section_title: Curling / History / Olympic curling
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Norský hráč curlingu Martin Sesaker na prvních zimních olympijských hrách mládeže v&#160;roce 2012 v&#160;Innsbrucku. Deutsch: 1. Olympische Jugend- Winterspiele 2012 Innsbruck; Martin Sesaker (NOR). Português: Martin Sesaker, representante da Noruega no curling nos Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno da Juventude de 2012.
context_page_description: Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called rocks, across the ice curling sheet toward the house, a circular target marked on the ice. Each team has eight stones, with each player throwing two. The purpose is to accumulate the highest score for a game; points are scored for the stones resting closest to the centre of the house at the conclusion of each end, which is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones. A game usually consists of eight or ten ends.
  The player can induce a curved path, described as curl, by causing the stone to slowly turn as it slides. The path of the rock may be further influenced by two sweepers with brooms or brushes, who accompany it as it slides down the sheet and sweep the ice in front of the stone. "Sweeping a rock" decreases the friction, which makes the stone travel a straighter path and a longer distance.
context_section_description: Curling has been a medal sport in the Winter Olympic Games since the 1998 Winter Olympics. It currently includes men's, women's and mixed doubles tournaments (the mixed doubles event was held for the first time in 2018).
  In February 2002, the International Olympic Committee retroactively decided that the curling competition from the 1924 Winter Olympics (originally called Semaine des Sports d'Hiver, or International Winter Sports Week) would be considered official Olympic events and no longer be considered demonstration events. Thus, the first Olympic medals in curling, which at the time was played outdoors, were awarded for the 1924 Winter Games, with the gold medal won by Great Britain, two silver medals by Sweden, and the bronze by France. A demonstration tournament was also held during the 1932 Winter Olympic Games between four teams from Canada and four teams from the United States, with Canada winning 12 games to 4.
  Since the sport's official addition in the 1998 Olympics, Canada has dominated the sport with their men's teams winning gold in 2006, 2010, and 2014, and silver in 1998 and 2002.  The women's team won gold in 1998 and 2014, a silver in 2010, and a bronze in 2002 and 2006. The mixed doubles team won gold in 2018.
caption: Curling at Youth Olympic Games 2012
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