Curling, also known as "ice skating", is said to have originated in Scotland in the 16th century and is considered one of the oldest team sports in the world. Curling, also known as "chess on ice," is a fun team project that combines intelligence and confrontation. In the Winter Olympics, where individuals are the main body of competition, in addition to ice hockey, curling is another traditional collective project, which requires teamwork and represents the overall strength of the participating countries. Curling became a competition at the first Winter Olympics in 1924, but it was not until the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics that four-person curling for men and women became an official sport; mixed doubles curling, which began to host the World Championships in 2008, was only included in the Winter Olympics in 2018, and the Beijing Winter Olympics will produce the second Winter Olympic mixed doubles gold medal in history. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, China will compete for all three events.
Competition Schedule: The earliest and longest schedule of the competition
Through the Curling Qualification Tournament for the Beijing Winter Olympics held at the end of last year, the South Korean women's team boarded the last train of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Curling is one of the seven major events of the Winter Olympics, divided into three sub-events of men's team, women's team and mixed doubles, which will produce three gold medals. Curling will be the longest and most frequent event of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, with a total of more than 100 games. According to the schedule, the first match day will start on February 2, before the opening day, February 4, and the last match day will be February 20, the closing day.
The first to start the game was mixed doubles curling, with 10 teams from China, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Norway, Italy, Australia and the Czech Republic participating, with two more teams than the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The Chinese team will face Switzerland on the night of February 2. The mixed doubles tournament is played in a single round robin format, with the top four reaching the semi-finals and the gold, silver and bronze winners coming out on the 8th.
The men's and women's matches will be staged on February 9 and February 10 respectively, with the Chinese men's team playing first against the Winter Olympic silver medalist Sweden, the other eight men's teams being the Russian Olympic Committee, Denmark, Italy, The United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Norway and Switzerland; the Chinese women's team will play against Denmark in the first match, and the other 8 women's teams will be Switzerland, the United States, Sweden, South Korea, Japan, the Russian Olympic Committee, the United Kingdom and Canada.
The men's and women's competitions also feature a single round-robin format, with the top four in the round-robin tournament playing in the semi-finals. The gold medal in the men's event will be produced on the 19th, and the gold medal in the women's event will be produced on the 20th, the closing day of the Winter Olympics.
Development pattern: Europe and the United States dominate Asia
The Chinese women's team competes at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Photo/Bai Yu
Due to the long period of development and the large number of participants, the level of European and North American countries is leading the world, occupying the podium of the World Championships and the Winter Olympics all year round. Although the Asian team is a regular at the World Championships, the Winter Olympics have occasionally appeared, the women's 4-a-side event has been two in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Chinese team won the bronze medal in 2010, South Korea and Japan won the silver medal and bronze medal in 2018 respectively; the men's team has not yet reached the podium, and the best result is that the Chinese team won the 4th place at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
It is not difficult to analyze the list of participating teams for the Beijing Winter Olympics, and it is not difficult to find that the majority of all 30 teams are from European countries. In addition to the host Team China, the other Canadian, Swiss, Swedish, American and British teams that have won a full quota of places are all veteran teams. The strength of Asian teams in the Beijing cycle has dropped significantly compared to the Pyeongchang cycle, Japan and South Korea have only qualified for the women's team, they are the silver and bronze medal teams of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the World Championships failed to enter the top six directly to Beijing, and can only catch the last train of the Winter Olympics through the Winter Olympics.
In the men's team competition, the Canadian team has won 3 gold medals and 2 silver medals in the past 6 Winter Olympic Games, Switzerland has won 1 gold and 3 bronze, and Norway and the United States have also won 1 gold medal respectively. In Asia, only the Chinese team qualified for the host qualification. The women's side is also the world of European and American teams, Sweden led with 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze Winter Olympic medal, followed by Canada with 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze. Compared with the last Winter Olympics, the mixed doubles teams have changed greatly, and Australia, the Czech Republic, Italy, the United Kingdom and Sweden have taken the Winter Olympic Express for the first time.
At present, in addition to the three teams of the Chinese team, the Russian Olympic Committee men's team and the mixed doubles team of Canada, the lineups of other participating countries have been announced, including many evergreen trees in the pot. The Canadian men's team, Brad Gushu, will return to the Winter Olympics after a gap of 16 years, leading the team to defeat brad Jacobs, the champion of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, and on the women's side, Jennifer Jones, the champion of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, became the first female captain in Canadian history to participate in the Winter Olympics twice, and she is also the first female curler in the history of the Winter Olympics to win the championship. Nicolas Edin, led by the Swedish men's team, is currently the only World Championship hardware king, leading the team to win the gold medal in the last three men's World Championships, which will be their fourth trip to the Winter Olympics. The Swedish women's team is led by Pyeongchang Women's Gold Medalist Anna Heatherberg, the first curler in history to win both the European Curling Championship gold medal, the World Curling Mixed Doubles Championship gold medal and the Olympic gold medal, and is a gold medalist at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
China's current situation: the trough is rising to the top
The picture shows the curling team audition held earlier
Chinese curling once had a highlight moment at the Winter Olympics, and at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Chinese women's team won the bronze medal in their debut at the Winter Olympics, and the year before they had just won the gold medal at the World Championships. It took only a dozen years from not knowing what curling was to climbing to the top of the world, and it has become a hot topic in both domestic and world curling circles. The Chinese men's team also followed the top four at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, representing the level of curling in Asia. The mixed doubles event, which had been pinned to a medal break, was accidentally broken at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, dealing a heavy blow to Chinese curling. With the departure of that generation of curlers, the young generation of China has not been stable enough, although it has still won in the intercontinental competition, but it has not been able to consolidate its original position in the World Championships, especially the men's team, and the world ranking has fallen significantly.
Today's curling sports, along with the increase of confrontation, the requirements for physical fitness are more prominent, especially the trend of masculinization of women's playing style, high-precision strong blows and the requirements for the strength and ability of ice sweepers, making female athletes more need to strengthen physical fitness. In the Beijing cycle, the Chinese curling team increased the intensity of physical training and scientific training content, consolidated the physical foundation, and improved the training efficiency. In the way of team formation, an open model is adopted, multiple national training teams are training at the same time, and intra-team confrontations have become the norm, boldly trying different combinations, and letting go of more athletes to participate in the competition. Due to the lineup adjustment and personnel change, as well as the long distance from the international arena, the actual combat level of the Chinese team has fluctuated, and the most recent international competition in the 2021 World Championships, the men's team ranked at the bottom of the 14 participating teams with 2 wins and 11 losses; the women's team ranked 10th among the 14 teams in the World Championships with 6 wins and 7 losses, and did not qualify for the rematch.
With the qualification in hand, the Chinese team completely let go of its hands and feet and prepared to meet the rebound after touching the bottom. In order to select the best athletes to go to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the best athletes in China were gathered, and the mode of team selection competition was adopted, and the mode of 1 station per week for 6 consecutive weeks was determined, simulating the schedule and atmosphere of the Winter Olympic Games, and through high-density, high intensity, and continuous adjustment of the combination of actual combat, each athlete's personal skills, field performance and teamwork ability were examined. The high-density team selection competition objectively makes up for the lack of international competition experience, builds a platform for practical exchanges, creates a competitive atmosphere and pressure, and helps athletes enter the Beijing Winter Olympics in advance. As team leader Yu Haijuan said, "If you want to catch up with the world's strongest team, there is no step-by-step, only day and night, only bold innovation." ”
Athletes also expressed their determination to compete in the Winter Olympics to win glory for the country. Ma Xiuyue, the captain of the men's training team, said, "I very much hope to have the opportunity to participate in the Winter Olympics. Although the Swedish team is stronger than us, we will not accept defeat and have the confidence to play with momentum. Mixed doubles player Ling Zhi was mentally prepared, "If I can go to the Winter Olympics, I will strive to defeat the opponents I have encountered before; if I don't, I will cheer my teammates at home." ”
At present, the Winter Olympic squad selection competition has all ended, and the final lineup for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games will be determined through comprehensive ranking according to the personal data of the participating athletes and the number of wins and losses.