With the winter Olympics beginning in February, people settle in to watch a variety of niche sports that they only watch every two years. 

One of the most popular is curling. Players slide a 44-pound granite stone across a 146 to 150-foot sheet of ice, aiming for a target in the middle called the “house”. Curlers are aiming for the “button,” which is the center of the house. To do this, they use a “broom” to “sweep” or melt the ice sheet, guiding the stone where they want to go. 

The objective is to have the most or the closest stones to the center of the “house” than the opposing team at the end of the round. Typically, there are 10 rounds with each team throwing 8 stones. 

In the 2026 Olympics can compete in Men’s, Women’s, and Mixed Doubles. Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin — USA’s mixed doubles curling team — took silver at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.

Maddie Gransdon, Junior, said, “I was really sad when the mixed doubles team lost in the finals, but I’m glad they took silver.”

While it might look easy, curling takes immense strategy and precision. As one team member sweeps, there is someone else—usually the leader —calling out shots. 

“I think that I would be really good at curling because it’s very strategic, unlike the rest of the Olympic sports that look hard,” said anonymous 

So many people find the sport fascinating because of how different it is from any other winter sport. 

Gransdon said, “I don’t understand it at all, but I find it so interesting and fun to watch.” 

You can watch curling almost every day up until the closing ceremony on February 22nd, with the men’s and women’s finals taking place on February 21st and 22nd.