Curling originates from an ancient pastime in Scotland, where people used to roll rocks on the ice during the wintertime. And then the Scottish immigrants to Canada developed their pastime into a modern sport. In the Winter Games, the first curling game was played in the inaugural competition of Chamonix 1924 before it was included in the programme as an exhibition event at Lake Placid 1932, although it took more time to be chosen as an Olympic sport. After a couple of exhibitions at Calgary 1988 and Albertville 1992, curling was established as an official event of the Winter Games at Nagano 1998.
Although the game of curling is played on ice, the athletes put on customised shoes with slippery soles instead of skates. A team consists of four athletes (two athletes for Mixed Doubles), who must throw the stones at the target called a house on the icy surface of the sheet. The aim is to leave as many stones as possible inside the house and at the same time try to parry the opposition stones away. The accurate throwing of the stones is the most important thing in curling, whilst you may control the trajectory by effectively sweeping the surface with brooms after the stones have been thrown.
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