


PA Great Britain's captain David Murdoch (centre) in the Curling Round Robin Session 3
Can they curl their way to a gold medal?

Curling, surely the greatest of all the sports? It's the only sport you need to watch when you turn on your television at 1:30pm (precisely) on Friday, and we've got every SINGLE detail you need to know about the perpetual Winter Olympics favourite.

Sochi 2014 is not the first time curling has been an unexpected hit with the punters, but with Team GB's women already claiming bronze, and Team GB's men fighting for a gold medal in the Winter Olympics curling final, it has proven to be more popular this year than ever before.

So, what IS curling? Why does it exist? How was curling invented? All these questions, and more, answered below.

How it's played

Sometimes known as “chess on ice” due to the amount of strategy involved, the sport is similar to bowls. Two teams of four players slide heavy, polished granite stones across ice on to a target area called a house.

Player have one "slider" - a smooth sole on one shoe which allows them to slide on the ice as they deliver their stone.


They have to let go before the hogline.

Teammates with brooms follow the stone and if they fear it will run out of speed before it reaches its intended target they brush furiously. The brushing alters the speed and direction of the stone by melting a fine layer of ice to reduce the ­friction just in front.


Teams take it in turns to play their stones. Players often spin stones, sometimes called rocks, on a curved trajectory. They are aiming to get their stones closest to the centre - or button - of the house or knock their opponents' stones out of the way. They don't normally play with cats.


Each team has eight stones, two delivered by each player, with the aim of your team having the stone or stones closest to the centre ("button") of the house.

An “end” is when both teams have delivered all their stones. A Olympic game consists of 10 ends.

The scoring

At the end of each end, the team with the stone closest to the button earns points for each stone nearer the centre than the closest of the opposition stones - giving a potential maximum of eight points per end, though typically one to three points are scored. If there are no stones in the house then no points are scored.

After this takeout the red team are in position to score here - but only with one rather than three stones. It's important to remember which foot your slider is on - there are no points for looking silly.

The jargon

Comox Valley Curling Club Curling-Rink tabbed up
Curling-Rink tabbed up

  • Rocks The granite stones
  • House Target circle
  • Button Target’s centre point
  • End Each round when the team plays all its stones... 10 per game
  • Delivery Pushing stones down the ice
  • Rink The team
  • Sheet The ice you're playing on
  • Skip Team captain - usually delivers the last two stones but not obligatory
  • Lead Delivers first two stones
  • Second Delivers second two stones
  • Third Delivers stones five and six
  • Line Direction of the throw
  • Curl The stone’s rotation
  • Burning Accidentally touching the stone
  • Guards Blocking shots
  • Draws Shots aimed at button
  • Takeouts Shots knocking out opponents’ stones


Curling is believed to have begun in 16th century Scotland, presumably why Scotland churns out so many great players. A curling stone dated 1511 was discovered in Dunblane and the first use of the word in print was in a 1620 poem found in Perth.

Scottish settlers, who originally slid large river stones across frozen waterways, took the sport to Canada where it has a huge following. It spread around the world in the 19th century.

All the stones used in Sochi and 70% in world curling come from the tiny Scots island of Ailsa Craig. Its Blue Hone granite is the smoothest in the world and perfect for curling.

Local company Kays of Scotland has provided stones for the last five Winter Olympics.

Getty Russian team compete Curling
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The World Curling Championships, originally called the Scotch Cup, began in 1959, as a men-only event in Scotland.

Women, mixed doubles and wheelchair categories were added later and the event was staged around the world, but with Canada invariably dominating.

A men’s tournament was staged at the 1924 Winter Olympics (with Britain taking gold) but curling didn’t become a permanent part of the event until the 1998 event in Nagano, Japan, with medals for men and women.

British glory

Britain’s only curling medal came at the 2002 Salt Lake City games when the women’s team won gold to become our first Winter Olympic champions since Torvill and Dean in 1984.

The Scots quintet of Rhona Martin, Margaret Morton, Fiona MacDonald, Debbie Knox and Janice Rankin got a hero’s welcome on their return and string of MBEs too.

Hoping to repeat this tartan triumph at Sochi was Team Muirhead, named after skipper Eve Muirhead, who led another group of five Scots. They managed a respectable third place and secured a bronze medal.

Our men’s team is skippered by David Murdoch, whose decisive final stone in the semi-final match against Norway provided one of the most thrilling moments in the Sochi games so far – even if their exploits were almost overshadowed by the Nor­weg­ians’ garish trousers.

The men's final takes place on Friday at 1:30pm.


Most of the world’s 1.5m curlers live in cold places: Scandinavia, Switzerland, Japan, Scotland. But it’s most popular in icy Canada, where televised matches win substantial ratings.

Sandra Schmirler, who won the women’s gold at the first event in 1998, became so much of a national hero that when she died of cancer two years later aged only 36, her funeral was broadcast on national television and attracted 15,000 mourners.

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