Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called rocks, across the ice curling sheet toward the house, a circular target marked on the ice. Each team has eight stones, with each player throwing two. The purpose is to accumulate the highest score for a game; points are scored for the stones resting closest to the centre of the house at the conclusion of each end, which is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones once. A game usually consists of eight or ten ends.
Men with Brooms is a 2002 Canadian romantic comedy film, starring and directed by Paul Gross. Centred on the sport of curling, the offbeat comedy tells the story of a reunited curling team from a small Canadian town as they work through their respective life issues and struggle to win the championship for the sake of their late coach.
Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in the town of Pinerolo, Italy from February 13 to February 24. It proved to be the sleeper hit in terms of television ratings in Italy. According to a CBC feature, curling at the 2006 Winter Games drew 5 million viewers, eclipsing ice hockey and figure skating. This, and the success of the Italian men's curling team created a surge of interest in curling within Italy, where there was no previous tradition of the sport and only a few hundred players.
David Nedohin is a Canadian curler. Nedohin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and now plays out of Sherwood Park, Alberta. He is best known as the longtime fourth for Randy Ferbey.
Bradley Raymond Gushue, ONL is a Canadian curler from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Gushue, along with teammates Russ Howard, Mark Nichols, Jamie Korab and Mike Adam, represented Canada in curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where they won the gold medal by defeating Finland 10–4. He also represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics, where he won a bronze medal. In addition to the Olympics, Gushue won the 2017 World Men's Curling Championship with teammates Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, and Geoff Walker. He is a record six-time Brier champion skip, having won in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 all with Nichols, Gallant and Walker, except for 2023 and 2024 with E. J. Harnden replacing Gallant. Their win in 2017 was Newfoundland and Labrador's first Brier title in 41 years. At the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier, Gushue set a new record for Brier game wins as a skip, breaking a three-way tie with previous record-holders Russ Howard and Kevin Martin.
Wheelchair curling is an adaptation of curling for athletes with a disability affecting their lower limbs or gait. Wheelchair curling is governed by the World Curling Federation, and is one of the sports in the Winter Paralympic Games.
The Continental Cup is a curling tournament held annually between teams from North America against teams from the rest of the World. Each side is represented by six teams, which compete using a unique points system. The tournament is modeled after golf's Ryder Cup, but unlike the Ryder Cup, the Continental Cup has never been held outside of North America nor has it been a regular, biennial event. The inaugural Continental Cup was held in 2002 but was held only three times between 2005 and 2010. Since 2011, however, the Continental Cup has been an annual competition.
In the sport of curling, the skip is the captain of a team. The skip determines strategy, and holds the broom in the house to indicate where a teammate at the other end of the curling sheet should aim the stone. The skip usually throws the last two stones in the fourth position, but may play in any other position.
The "Curse of LaBonte" was a curse in curling. It was caused by an incident at the finals of the 1972 World Curling Championships for men, the 1972 Air Canada Silver Broom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
The 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 19 to February 27 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was the 30th anniversary of Kruger Products sponsoring the tournament and the first time a Bronze Medal Game was added to the playoffs.
The 1972 Air Canada Silver Broom was held at the Olympic Eisstadion in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany from March 19–21, 1972. The 1972 Air Canada Silver Broom was the site of the infamous incident that led to the Curse of LaBonte.
In curling, a third is the team member who delivers the second-to-last pair of a team's stones in an end. The third is in charge of calling, strategy and directing the sweepers when the skip is delivering their stones, but sweeps for the lead and second. The vices of each team are responsible for determining and recording the score after each end, and in most clubs, will determine by lot which team begins a game with the hammer and what colour stones each team will use. The third position requires a curler adept at executing shots with a high degree of accuracy, especially draws and other finesse shots, as the third needs to set up the house for the skip's stones.
In curling, the second is the person who delivers the second pair of stones after the lead. On most teams, where the second does not act as skip or vice, the second will sweep for each of their teammates. Due to the free-guard-zone rule, which prevents guards from being removed from play by the leads, the second is usually a curler with a high degree of proficiency throwing takeouts, peels, and other power shots. Following the adoption of the five-rock rule in 2018, the role of the second has become more of a finesse role, as seconds often have to throw guards and other finesse shots.
In curling, the lead is the person who delivers the first two stones of the end for their team. On most teams, where the lead does not act as skip or vice, the lead will sweep for each of their teammates shots. Because of the free-guard-zone rule, which prevents leads from removing most of an opponent's guards, leads are usually proficient at throwing guards and draws, and throw few takeouts or other power shots. In some regions, such as Eastern Ontario and the Eastern United States, the lead is responsible for determining who has hammer, using random selection, such as flipping a coin. However, in most regions, this is the responsibility of the third.
Doubles curling is a variation of the sport of curling with only two players on each team. Mixed doubles is the most common format of doubles curling, where the term 'mixed' specifies that each team is composed of one man and one woman. The term mixed is also used to describe a specific format of 4-person team curling where the team consists of two men and two women and the throwing order alternates genders, see mixed team.
The Eye on the Hog is a sport officiating technology used in curling to electronically detect hog line violations. Commonly referred to as "sensor handles", it is based on a patent filed by University of Saskatchewan that was further developed by Startco Engineering, a company that was later acquired by Littelfuse.
The 2022 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 4 to 13 at the ENMAX Centre in Lethbridge, Alberta. In the final, the defending Olympic bronze medallist Brad Gushue Wild Card #1 team, which also include Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker from Newfoundland and Labrador defeated Alberta, skipped by Kevin Koe. It was Gushue's fourth career Brier title, and the team did it shorthanded, as Nichols missed the playoffs due to testing positive for COVID-19. According to Curling Canada, it was the first time a three-player team won a Brier final. Gushue's four Brier wins ties the record with Ernie Richardson, Randy Ferbey, Kevin Martin and Koe for most Brier championships as a skip, and his rink tied the "Ferbey Four" for most Brier championships as a foursome with four titles. Gushue played as a Wild Card team as they missed the Newfoundland and Labrador provincials due to their participation in the Olympics, and were the first team to ever play at the Brier and the Olympics in the same year. They were also the first Wild Card team to win the Brier. The Gushue rink represented Canada at the 2022 World Men's Curling Championship at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, United States, where they won the silver medal.
The 2022 World Men's Curling Championship was held from April 2 to April 10 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, United States. Team Sweden, skipped by Niklas Edin, was the defending championship team. The 2022 WMCC trialed the no-tick rule for the first time at a men's tournament at this level.
The 2023 World Men's Curling Championship was held from April 1 to 9 at TD Place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Ottawa was selected as the host site in June 2022. It had originally been planned for the city to host the event in 2021, but the event was moved to the "Calgary bubble" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first time Ottawa hosted the men's Worlds.
"Broomgate" also known as brushgate was a technology doping controversy in the sport of curling during the 2015–16 season. It was caused by the result of new brush head technologies and sweeping techniques that dramatically altered how the game was played that season. It resulted in a World Curling Federation summit to regulate and standardize brushes in the sport.
