The recently concluded Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada has been one of the most publicized ones to date. Because of high-speed internet and many new sports cable channel options, parts of the world that do not get the winter season can witness the winter games. Winter sports such as skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, bobsledding, luge and snowboarding are getting more exposure now more than ever. Some unusual sports have also piqued the interest of many new viewers of the Winter Olympics such as curling and skeleton.
Curling and skeleton are two of the most unusual Winter Olympic games to watch. Read on to learn more about how these sports are played and the scoring details.
Curling is a team sport in which the players let a heavy stone slide towards a circular target across a carefully prepared sheet of ice. Curling is thought to have originated in medieval Scotland and is related to bowling. The curling team consists of four players, who each take turns sliding the stones made of polished blue hone granite across the ice. The sheet of ice where this is done is called a curling sheet. The stones are aimed towards a circular target marked on the ice, called the house. The curling teams are given eight stones to play and when all the stones have been used, that is called an end. A whole game may consist of eight to ten ends.
Curling teams win by accumulating the highest score at the end of the game. Points are gained depending on how close the stones rest on the center of the target. The closer to the target the stone rests, the higher the points given. Players may influence the path of the stones by making it curve and turn slowly as it slides. This is done by two team members who could sweep the ice in front of the stone using brooms. The two members are called sweepers, and they act under instructions from skip, the team member who releases the stone and call the shots.
At the conclusion of each end, the team with the closest stone to the target wins and is awarded points for each stone that is closer to the target compared to their opponents’ stones. Only stones that are in the house are considered for scoring. The position of the stones in the house is determined by a scoring mechanism, which can only be brought out at the conclusion of each end. This means that teams can only strategize based on assumptions of where their stones have rested. The team with the most accumulated points after ten ends wins the game.
Skeleton, unlike curling, is an individual sport. It is a fast winter sliding sport and involves a person riding a small sled face-down on a frozen track. Skeleton is a spin-off from the British sport called “cresta sledding,” and is said to have originated in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Skeleton uses the same track used in luge and bobsledding. The sleds used by the skeleton sliders do not have any braking or steering mechanisms. Therefore, the sliders use rakes in their boots and shifting their body weight to control the speed and direction of the sled.
Are there any sports in winter olympics that you like and would like to mention here?
i love to Figure Skate, and this has been my favorite sport ever since i was a kid.,”: