Curling is a competition between two teams with four players each. The game is played on ice and the two teams take turns pushing 42-pound stones towards a series of concentric circles. The object is to get the stones as close to the center of the circles as possible.
Olympic curling events will take place in the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre, located in the geographic center of Vancouver, near Queen Elizabeth Park and with views of the mountains. Construction of the 6,000-spectator venue began in March 2007.
Medals will be awarded to the top three teams in the women's and men's tournaments.
Inside this sport: Competition Format | Glossary and Rules | Equipment
Torino Recap: Oh, Canada!
Heading into Torino, Canada was considered
the world's preeminent men's curling power, having claimed 29 of 47 world
championship titles. However, since curling was added to the Olympic program in
1998, the Canadian men had never won an Olympic gold. Brad Gushue - a
25-year-old who had never competed at a major senior-level event - seemed an
unlikely candidate to capture the inaugural Canadian men's gold, but the
25-year-old from St. John's, Newfoundland did exactly that, defeating the
Finnish team led by skip Markku Uusipaavalniemi in the final. Meanwhile, the
American squad skipped by Pete Fenson -
a 37-year-old who ran two restaurants called Dave's Pizza in Minnesota -
claimed bronze, the first Olympic curling medal for the United States.
Torino Recap: Sweden prevails
For Anette Norberg of Sweden - a
39-year-old mother of two who worked as an actuary in Stockholm - the only
thing missing from an impressive resume was an Olympic medal. Entering Torino,
Norberg had won nine European championship medals (including six gold) and six
world championship medals (one gold, one silver, four bronze), including the
world title in 2005. At the 2006 Games, Norberg added the last elusive
achievement to her competitive ledger, defeating Mirjam Ott and Switzerland in
the final. Perennial women's world curling power Canada was represented in
Torino by skip Shannon Kleibrink - a 37-year-old relative unknown making her
major championship debut - but still won bronze. The United States, skipped by
Bemidji, Minnesota native Cassie Johnson (and featuring Johnson's sister,
Jamie), finished a disappointing eighth. The Johnson sisters had led the U.S.
to a runner-up finish behind Norberg at the 2005 World Championship.
Vancouver Outlook
After Canadian rinks won gold in Torino and took the 2007 world title, Kevin Martin's rink continued the Canadian streak with a win in 2008. Despite a second-place finish at the 2009 Worlds, Canada's team, which won't be formally named until December, should enter Vancouver as the favorite on home ice. The fight for silver and bronze is likely to be between Great Britain (Murdoch), the surprise 2009 world champion and Norway (Ulsrud). The United States, skipped by Pete Fenson, won bronze at the 2006 Games and Todd Birr's rink matched that effort at the 2007 Worlds. In 2009, John Shuster's rink finished fifth and is as an outside medal contender for Vancouver.
In the women's tournament, Canada won the world title in 2007 and 2008 and until the 2009 Worlds, appeared to be the favorite for Olympic gold in 2010. But in Gangeung, South Korea in January, the Chinese team emerged as the unlikely world champions with the Canadians shaking their heads in fourth place. Led by a Canadian, Dan Raphael, China's gold medal was the first for an Asian team.
The U.S. women were led by 1998 and 2002 Olympian Debbie McCormick (who did not compete in Torino) at both the 2007 and 2008 world championships, where the Americans finished fourth and seventh, respectively. The XXI Olympic Winter Games will be a homecoming of sorts for McCormick, who was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan before moving to Wisconsin at age two.
Since winning gold in Torino, the king of the halfpipe has become a skateboarding champion. He's found time to surf, too.
