You don't know the Winter Olympics: where the winter "noble sport" curling "expensive" is

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 1

Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhang Yueshan, Liang Jinxiong, Tan Chang and Ma Sijia

When it comes to "ice chess" curling, people often think of "noble sports", which is not unfounded, because it is an indisputable fact that curling and its venues in international competitions are made of special materials and complex processes, so they are expensive. In addition, the aristocratic spirit of strict self-discipline and cherishing honor is also an important connotation of the curling spirit.

Curling used in international competitions costs about 12,000 yuan each, and a set of fine curling (16 curling) costs almost 180,000 yuan.

Why is curling so expensive? First of all, its raw materials are more special, and it is not difficult to see from the process of the competition that if you want to keep curling near the center of the base camp, you can't do without the collision of curling between the two sides, which means that the stones used to make curling cannot be broken in a low temperature environment.

The world's finest rough curling stones currently come from two locations, namely El Sacreg Island in Scotland and North Wales. Their granite particles are very fine and do not contain mica, and it has been found in long-term practice that curling made from this unique granite has three times the impact resistance of ordinary granite.

After the rough is mined, it is time to make curling, and this is the second reason why it is expensive - the production process is complicated and the labor cost is high.

Making a curling pot weighing about 40 pounds requires eight meticulous steps; producing a set of curling takes five skilled workers three days to complete. There are currently only three companies in the world that can produce high-quality curling, namely Case Of Scotland, which has exclusive mining rights to El Sacreg Island, the only Canadian curling stone company in the world that can produce curling from Trevor granite in North Wales, and Thompson Company of the United States, which uses special curling manufacturing and refurbishment technology.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why a curling pot can sell for tens of thousands of yuan, but fortunately, curling is expensive but a one-time investment, just like the ice master and Canadian Hans Usrich said, "a curling can last a lifetime".

In addition to curling itself, the curling field is also expensive. Compared to other ice sports, curling requires more on the ice surface. Before the start of the competition, the organizing committee needs to focus a large part of its energy on the preparation of the ice rink. The venue needs to be poured with pure distilled water, and there are strict requirements for the humidity and temperature in the venue. Only by ensuring the purity of the water can the curling slide smoothly on the ice. In order to improve the quality of ice, other materials are sometimes added to distilled water.

Because of this, there are not many professional curling venues in China that can be used for competitions such as the Winter Olympics and the World Championships. But as a popular sport, curling is not so demanding on the ice surface of the track. Usridge once said that Canada is now using collected rainwater for purification to make ice surface, which does not require too much overhead. Counting more diversified, low-cost, low-threshold development methods such as dryland curling, the original expensive curling can also enter the homes of ordinary people.

Historically, curling was very popular with the nobility. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom became obsessed with curling during her visit to Perth, Scotland, and founded the Royal Scots Curling Club. In March 1965, the club held a meeting in Perth and Scotland, Canada, the United States, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland agreed to establish an international committee within the Royal Club called the International Curling Federation (now the World Curling Federation). After a year of preparation, the Federation was formally established in 1966.

Perhaps because of its historical roots, curling puts the "spirit of curling" in the supreme position. Open the official website of the World Curling Federation to see an explanation of this spirit.

"The spirit of curling refers to respect for curlers, not only for each other, but also for the sport itself. Curlers fight for victory, but never belittle their opponents. Real curlers never try to distract their opponents or prevent them from playing at their best, preferring to lose rather than win unfairly. Curlers never deliberately break the rules of the game, nor do they fail to respect any of their traditions. If they become aware that they have inadvertently fouled, they will immediately admit their actions. The spirit of curling requires good sportsmanship, good feelings and noble conduct. ”

Under the influence of this spirit, there are very few doping scandals and arrogance in sports circles inside and outside the curling arena. Athletes are humble and friendly, like a big family, so the referee's presence on the curling field is often not as strong as in other competitions. On the field, athletes will voluntarily admit that their opponents have the right to deal with such fouls after discovering them, and referees rarely intervene in communication between athletes.

Curling equipment, the expensive venue and the aristocratic spirit of strict self-discipline and cherishing honor have left people with the impression of "noble sports", which is also the valuable and attractive place of this sport. (End)