Curling dates to the 1700s and was among the handful of sports at the first Winter Olympics in 1924.
It didnt return until the 1998 Games with both mens and womens competition. It has grown in popularity and size: Curling will be the first sport to open competition on Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony for the Milan Cortina Games .
How it works
In a curling match, two teams compete to see which can get the most granite stones closest to a bullseye target called the tee by sliding it on a narrow sheet of ice. The distance between where a player must release the stone and the tee at the other end is about 93 feet (28 meters). The sheet is only 5 meters or 16.4 feet wide and it shares stones for each team every round so it gets crowded.
Each round, for up to 10 rounds, teams have eight chances to slide the specialized 44-pound (20 kg) stones toward the tee. They can aim directly for the center, try to knock their opponents stones away or nudge their own stones closer to the target. Strategies include blocking and takeouts.
Each throw involves all four teammates. One slides the stone, using a handle to make it curl, while others sweep the ice as the stone moves, altering its speed and direction. Team captains, called skips, advise on strategy. Whichever team gets consistently closest to the target wins the match.
Terms to know; The house (the overall scoring area, centered by the tee); Ends, which are similar to an inning in baseball in that each team shoots eight rocks (two per person) or 16 total; the hammer, or the last stone of an end; the hog line, which is when a player must release their stone (21 feet from the tee); and pebbling, the droplets of ice on the sheet that impact the speed of the stone.
Who to watch
Canadian Brad Jacobs is making his second Olympic appearance after leading Canada to gold at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Standout Bruce Mouat of the United Kingdom will compete in two events in Cortina, mixed doubles and the mens championship.
The Swedes are the defending Olympic mens champion. On the womens side, the U.K. is the defending womens champion but Sweden and Canada are among the favorites.
The U.S. will be represented in all three curling disciplines. Daniel Casper will lead the mens team, Tabitha Peterson the womens and Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin will be in mixed doubles.
Venues and dates
All matches will take place at the Cortina curling stadium, with competition beginning Feb. 4. The mixed doubles final is Feb. 10, mens semifinals Feb. 19 and the final Feb. 21 while the womens semis are Feb. 20 and the final Feb. 22.
Memorable moments
The Canadian men had won gold for three straight Olympics (2006, 2010 and 2014) before the Americans led by skip John Shuster grabbed headlines by upsetting Sweden to win the U.S. its first Olympic gold in curling.
Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner won mixed doubles in 2022, giving Italy its first Olympic curling championship. Constantini is from Cortina, so she and Mosaner will draw huge crowds as they try to win gold at home.
Fun facts
An average curling match takes three hours, according to World Curling. Mixed doubles at Cortina will see two married couples and one sibling team face off. Canadian couple Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant will compete against Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Hrlimann of Switzerland. Swedish siblings Rasmus Wran02 and Isabella Wran02 will also compete as a team.
___
AP Winter Olympics:
冰壶运动可追溯至18世纪，并且是1924年首届冬奥会上为数不多的比赛项目之一。
直到1998年冬奥会，冰壶运动才重新回归，并同时设立了男子和女子比赛项目。如今这项运动的影响力和规模与日俱增：在米兰-科尔蒂纳冬奥会开幕式前两天（周三），冰壶将作为首个竞赛项目拉开赛事帷幕。
运作原理
冰壶比赛中，两支队伍在狭窄的冰面上滑动花岗岩制成的冰壶，争夺谁能让更多冰壶靠近靶心（称为“营垒”）。运动员投掷冰壶的位置与另一端营垒之间的距离约为93英尺（28米）。冰道宽度仅5米（16.4英尺），且每轮双方共用冰壶，因此比赛区域会显得拥挤。
每局比赛最多进行10轮，每支队伍有8次机会将重达44磅（20公斤）的特制冰壶滑向营垒中心。他们可以直接瞄准中心点，也可以试图将对手的冰壶撞离目标区域，或是轻推己方冰壶使其更接近目标。常用战术包括防守性占位和进攻性击打。
每次投掷都需要四名队员协同配合。一名队员手持冰壶手柄推出石球使其旋转滑行，其余队员则在石球移动过程中通过刷冰来调整其速度和方向。被称为“主将”（skip）的队长负责战术指导。最终，将冰壶持续投掷至目标区域最近的队伍将赢得比赛。
需了解的专业术语：营垒（以圆心tee为中心的整个得分区）；局（类似棒球中的局，每队投掷8个冰壶，每人2个，共16个）；后手（一局中最后投掷的冰壶）；前掷线（球员必须在此线前21英尺处释放冰壶）；以及冰面打点（冰面上的水滴状凸起，会影响冰壶的滑行速度）。
值得关注的人物
加拿大选手布拉德·雅各布斯在2014年索契冬奥会上率队摘金后，将第二次亮相奥运赛场。英国名将布鲁斯·莫阿特将在科尔蒂纳参加混双和男子锦标赛两个项目的角逐。
瑞典队是奥运会男子项目的卫冕冠军。在女子项目中，英国队是卫冕冠军，但瑞典队和加拿大队也是夺冠热门。
美国将派出代表队参加冰壶全部三个项目的角逐。丹尼尔·卡斯珀（Daniel Casper）将率领男子队，塔比莎·彼得森（Tabitha Peterson）领衔女子队，而科里·蒂斯（Cory Thiesse）与科里·德罗普金（Korey Dropkin）将出战混双比赛。
场馆与日期
所有比赛都将在科尔蒂纳冰壶体育馆举行，赛事将于2月4日拉开帷幕。混合双人决赛定于2月10日，男子半决赛和决赛分别于2月19日及21日进行，而女子半决赛和决赛则分别安排在2月20日与22日。
难忘时刻
加拿大男子冰壶队曾连续三届奥运会（2006年、2010年和2014年）摘得金牌，直到由队长约翰·舒斯特率领的美国队爆冷击败瑞典队，为美国赢得首枚奥运冰壶金牌，成为头条新闻。
斯特凡尼娅·康斯坦丁尼与阿莫斯·莫萨内尔在2022年冬奥会上赢得冰壶混双冠军，为意大利摘得首枚奥运冰壶金牌。由于康斯坦丁尼来自科尔蒂纳，她与莫萨内尔此番主场作战争夺金牌，必将吸引大批观众到场助威。
趣味知识
世界冰壶联合会数据显示，一场冰壶比赛平均耗时三小时。在科尔蒂纳举行的混双比赛中，将有两对夫妻组合和一对兄妹组合同场竞技。加拿大组合乔斯林·彼得曼与布雷特·加兰特将对阵瑞士的扬尼克·施瓦勒和布里亚尔·施瓦勒-赫尔利曼兄妹。瑞典兄妹拉斯穆斯·弗兰与伊莎贝拉·弗兰也将组队参赛。
美联社冬奥会专题：