The peculiar brushing motions and sliding shoes of curling have long amused (and baffled) Olympics viewers. But, like many other sports, its origins are humbler than the modern sport might suggest, beginning on frozen lakes with flat-bottomed stones gathered from nearby fields and rivers.
Today, Canada dominates the international curling scene, but it turns out, the origins of the sport are slightly closer to home for Europeans. Here, we take a deep dive into the history of curling, how it’s travelled over to Canada and why all the Olympic curling stones are still made in Scotland.
Origins of curling
Curling is a similar game to bowls, boules and shuffleboard. It is believed to have existed in Scotland in the early 16th century, with the oldest known curling stone now kept in the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling. It dates back to 1511.
The word ‘curling’ first appeared in print in 1620 in Perth, Scotland, in a poem by Henry Adamson. The sport was known as ‘the roaring game’, because of the sound the stones make while travelling over the ‘pebble’ (droplets of water applied to the ice’s surface).
In the early days of curling, playing stones were simply flat-bottomed stones from nearby rivers or fields. In central Canada, curlers used irons rather than stones in the 1900s.
Scotland remains the international home of curling, with the World Curling Federation based in Perth, but Canada has become a major hub of the sport, having been taken there by Scottish emigrants.
What are the rules of curling?
Two teams, each made up of four players, take turns sliding eight large granite stones across the ice curling sheet towards the house. Like a darts board, the circular target is marked on the ice and the aim is to get as close to the centre of the house as possible, with points scored for the stones that reach that area.
After the player throws the stone, two sweepers use brooms or brushes to sweep the ice in the stone’s path. This reduces the friction under the stone, allowing it to travel further and in a straighter line, so the players decide how much to sweep in order to dictate its trajectory towards their target point.
Why is it called curling?
The sport is named after the curved trajectory the stone makes when it is thrown, as players gently rotate the stone as they release it, forming a ‘curl’.
History of the sport of curling
Curling was first included at the Olympic Winter Games at Chamonix, France in 1924. In this first iteration, Team GB won gold.
The sport returned as a demonstration sport (rather than an official medal event) in 1932, 1988 and 1992, before being made an official medal sport at the 1998 Nagano Games. In 2018, mixed doubles was added to the programme.
What’s the difference between demonstration sports and official medal events at the Olympics?
Demonstration sports were introduced in the 1924 Summer Olympics, designed to increase awareness of sports that were typical in the host country – but they weren’t part of the medal competition, so winners didn’t count towards the main medal tallies.
At Paris 1924, the demonstration sports chosen were Basque pelota (a squash-like racquet sport), la canne (a French combat sport), canoeing and kayaking (which subsequently entered the Olympic programme), savate (a French hybrid martial art) and volleyball (which entered the Olympic programme several decades later).
Organising committees would choose a demonstration sport at each edition of the Games, but this practice was suspended after the 1992 Summer Olympics, as the Olympic programme had grown larger.
Why is curling so popular in Canada?
Scottish immigrants first brought the sport of curling to Canada in the early 18th century, and since then, it has held a significant role in the country’s culture. Canada has many national championships, with the national teams enjoying successes at most Olympic Games.
Why do Olympic curling stones only come from one island in Scotland?
The only remaining UK manufacturer and supplier of curling stones is Kays of Scotland, a business based in Ayrshire, which harvests all its granite from Ailsa Craig, a small, uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland. Kays of Scotland has been crafting curling stones by hand for over 170 years.
The Ailsa Craig granite is one of the densest granites ever discovered, because it’s a rare type of volcanic microgranite that cooled quickly about 60 million years ago, creating a very fine, interlocking structure that is resistant to water absorption, freezing and cracking. With regular servicing, a good curling stone should last for decades.
Kays of Scotland has supplied curling stones to every Winter Olympic Games since the sport was first introduced at the Olympics at Chamonix 1924.
Is Team GB any good at curling?
At the first Olympic Winter Games at Chamonix 1924, Team GB won gold. They have since won two further gold medals at Salt Lake City in 2002 and Beijing in 2022.
Top image: The British Curling team during the Winter Olympics at Chamonix, France in 1924 (credit: Getty Images)
