This Friday, the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympicsand among the main attractions will be curling, a discipline that attracts the attention of fans, who watch the broadcasts without really understanding the rules of this curious sport.

The origin of this winter activity lies in Scotland, and although there is no exact date of Its origins are estimated to date back to around 1500, when people played with stones on frozen lakes.. It has since grown and become popular in the United Kingdom, Nordic countries and North America.

Today, Canada is a world power and is the defender of the Olympic title, both for men and women. For its part, Scotland is the first winner of European titles with 12 in total.

In South America, Brazil is the only country with a recognized organization by the International Federation. On the other hand, Africa is the only continent without federations.

Equipment

Each team has four players (lead, second, vice-jump And jump). He jump He is the one who assumes the role of captain and is responsible for defining strategies. Everyone must throw twice.

Surface

Curling is played on an ice rink 45.72 m long and 5 m wide. It has two circles drawn at one end, A whose diameter is 3.7 m and constitutes the area known as the house, And another smallerlocated inside the previous one, which delimits the area called button.

Objects

Each side has eight stones They weigh 20 kilos each and are made of granite. These are thrown from one end of the path to the other (where the house is) and cannot be hit along the way. Additionally, if they come into contact with any of the edges, the shot is canceled.

Players also have two brooms, which are used to mark the path of the stone.. Since the surface is ice, a quick sweep clears your path and allows you to increase speed to reach your destination (the button).

Duration

Matches are played over 10 rounds. (either ends, according to English terminology). In each of these periods, the players throw the 8 stones, two each.

Aim

The objective is to score as many points as possible during the 10 rounds. In the event of a tie, an additional round will be played to determine the winner.

Punctuation

Once an entry is completed, The team that successfully places a stone inside the button scores a point.. This same side is also given one extra point for each additional stone closest to the center (still inside the house) as the first stone of the other cast.

In other words, if team A manages to place a stone on the button, they score a point. If the stone closest to that one is also yours, add another point, and so on, until you land on one from B.

On the other hand, if the stone closest to the center one comes from the other side, the round ends with only one point for team A and none for team B.

The team that manages to score the most points over the 10 rounds wins the game.

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