WINTER OLYMPICS CURLING

OLYMPIC SPORT SINCE 1924

CURLING originated in the 16th century in Scotland, where games were played during winter on frozen ponds, lochs and marshes. The earliest-known curling stones came from the Scottish regions of Stirling and Perth and date back to 1511. The earliest reports of curling came from Paisley Abbey, Scotland, in 1541. In the early days of the sport, stones were taken from river bottoms. In the 1600s, stones with handles were introduced, allowing a delivery style similar to what is used today.

The key developments in the sport in the 20th century have been the standardization of the stone and the use of indoor, refrigerated ice facilities.

Curling for men was included in the program in 1924, and was a demonstration sport in 1932. At the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Winter Games, it was a demonstration sport for both men and women. In 1936 and 1946, German curling (Eisschiessen) was also a demonstration sport at the Olympic Winter Games. World Championships have been held for men since 1959 and for women since 1979.

Curling made its Olympic debut at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games with the men's and women's tournaments. Canada, led by skip Sandra Schmirler, won the inaugural women's gold medal, defeating Denmark 9-5 in the final. Switzerland, skipped by Patrick Huerlimann, upset Canada 9-3 to earn the men's gold medal.

COMPETITION
At the Olympic Games, both women and men compete in ten-team events. Curling is a competition between two teams with four players each. The game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns pushing a 19.1kg stone towards a series of concentric circles. The object is to get the stone as close to the centre of the circles as possible.

One game consists of ten "ends". An end is similar to a baseball inning. During each end, each team delivers eight stones - two stones per person. The team members deliver the stones in a set order presented to the officials before the game. The first player is known as the "lead". He/she is followed by the "second," then the "third" (also known as the "vice-skip") and finally the "skip", who is the leader of the team. Each end starts with the leads alternating throws until they have each thrown their two stones. They are followed by the seconds in the same manner, and so on.

The score for the end is determined when all 16 stones have been delivered. The team that scores in an end shoots first in the next end. The team with the most points at the conclusion of ten ends is the winner.

VERIFIED FEB 21, 2002

MEN

	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE
1924	Great Britain	Sweden	France
1932-94
1998	Switzerland	Canada	Norway
2002	Norway	Canada	Switzerland

WOMEN

	GOLD	SILVER	BRONZE
1924-94
1998	Canada	Denmark	Sweden
2002	Great Britain	Switzerland	Canada