Curling may not be the most glamorous sport at the Turin Olympics but it certainly brings a refreshing family element to the Games.
On entering the Olympic curling venue in Pinerolo you could be forgiven for asking whether a school sports day was in process. The only difference is the kids are cheering on the adults.
Watching a granite stone slide down a sheet of ice towards a bulls-eye target may not be to everybody’s taste but some are captivated by it.
Indeed organisers for the Games revealed that curling tickets were among the fastest to sell with full-houses expected in the build-up to the February 24 final.
Ubiquitous groups of school children from Italy to Japan can be seen holding up banners and flags for their respective countries.
Fog-horns, cowbells and percussion instruments create an almost carnival atmosphere with 90s music blaring out while the players warm-up.
The emphasis seems to be on enjoyment rather than urging your country to win at all costs.
But that is not to say the competitors do not take it seriously.
Shrieks of ”hard” and ”hurry” are audible in various languages as teams look for more ”curl”.
As in most sports curling has its own jargon.
”Biter” — a stone just touching the outer target circle, ”House” — the target area and ”Freeze” — a shot that stops directly against another stone, are to name but a few.
But despite the impressive terminology, curling has yet to impress the sporting world.
Described as ”bowls on ice” curling has been the butt of many a joke with critics claiming some competitors are too out of shape to be considered athletes.
The United States men’s skip, the technical word for captain, Scott Baird is 54 and the oldest Olympian.
It is hard to imagine a 54-year-old doing cross-country skiing or a flip in snowboarding.
Baird has raised the profile of curling with his historic achievement but it is the United States women who have upped the glamour stakes.
Sisters Jamie and Cassie Johnson are athletic students in their mid-20s and that coupled with the fact that the women top the world rankings, they have caught the eye of the US media.
”I think it is great that the sport is getting the media attention,” said Jamie Johnson.
”I hope curling becomes more popular and gains the respect it deserves. People should give it a try because it is a lot harder than it looks.”
So what does curling involve? Well, the 20kg polished granite ”stones”, are delivered down an ice sheet towards a target 28,3m away.
There are four members in a team and each player has two stones to bowl, with points awarded for each stone of their colour closest to the target circle.
It is a tactical game, like chess on ice, with stones placed to block opponents from scoring points.
The ”skip” reads the ice from the target area and directs the two sweepers who frantically move their brooms to control the curl by melting layers of ice and so reducing the friction between stone and ice.
Complicated it may sound but fans are getting to grips with curling following its introduction at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano.
Norway, Japan and Great Britain are just some of the ten competing nations in Turin and competition has been fierce.
But while the competitors clearly enjoy their sport it is easy to see why curling has an image problem.
Like many other sports it suffers from the fact that not a lot of people have the opportunity to play it and therefore can not really gain an insight into what skills are involved.
Another disadvantage is the sport does not have instant appeal — something even the players admit.
”My neighbour introduced me to the sport. The first year I hated it,” said US women’s star Jessica Schulz. ”But my father urged me to give it a second chance and I fell in love with it.” – AFP
