Winter Olympics from Pyeongchang

[lazybloke]

I cycled past a place that advertised Curling not long ago. I was a bit surprised. Somewhere in the High Weald lumpy bits of Kent/Sussex

Edit. Fenton's Curling Rink, just S of Tunbridge Wells. England's only dedicated curling rink.

Yep, I mentioned it after a visit a few weeks back. We got a group together and had something like 90-120 mins of playing for £20 each, including shoe hire, equipment and a dedicated guide/tutor/ref.
We weren't graceful or accurate.

 

[AndyRM]

Yep, I mentioned it after a visit a few weeks back. We got a group together and had something like 90-120 mins of playing for £20 each, including shoe hire, equipment and a dedicated guide/tutor/ref.
We weren't graceful or accurate.

My mum's parents used to curl. They were quite good at local league level and tried to teach me to play as a youngster. Not an easy thing to master, particularly as an excitable 7/8 year old. Still love watching it but the dedication to get good at it (like any sport I suppose, but especially a niche one), is mind blowing.

 

[LarryDuff]

Finding the BBC highlights clips are being ruined by ott graphics.

BBC presentation ruined by Clare Balding and an infantile obsession with what is on social media.

 

[Julia9054]

Gotta love the Curling, slinging a daud of stone along a wad of ice whats not to like. Not sure why we brits dont have a mixed team though

I was wondering that too. It would seem to me to be one of the few sports where men do not have a physical advantage so why isn't it all played mixed?

 

[AndyRM]

I was wondering that too. It would seem to me to be one of the few sports where men do not have a physical advantage so why isn't it all played mixed?

Be interesting to see. The men do have a slight physical advantage, and some research has suggested they see further ahead into an end, but I'm not sure I believe that's true.

 

[Julia9054]

Be interesting to see. The men do have a slight physical advantage, and some research has suggested they see further ahead into an end, but I'm not sure I believe that's true.

Do they have an advantage though? As far as i know (and i am probably the person who knows least about every sport so am happy to be corrected), they use the same size stones and slide them over the same distance, getting points for accuracy not speed or force so it's hard to see what the advantage would be.

 

[AndyRM]

Do they have an advantage though? As far as i know (and i am probably the person who knows least about every sport so am happy to be corrected), they use the same size stones and slide them over the same distance, getting points for accuracy not speed or force so it's hard to see what the advantage would be.

Stones and distances are the same, but there's something like two seconds difference in the time it takes a man to get to the point of release (@Fnaar) meaning more force is generated to clobber other stones if required.

As I said, it's slight but it's there.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Googled this last night and found a discussion saying that because the men are stronger (especially the sweepers) they can play the game entirely differently. Men can throw stones hard enough to knock 3 or 4 other stones out of the scoring in one swipe so their games are about laying out blocking stones to prevent this. The woman's game is far more subtle and nuanced. Mixing the teams would see all the women's delicate play destroyed with single shots by the men.

Never played it so just going by the Reddit conversation.

 

[Bollo]

We might be rubbish at Winter sports, but no one beats us at shenanigans.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...mber-sent-home-winter-olympics-security-guard

 

[nickyboy]

Let me see...which ones do I particularly enjoy

Speed skating
Cross country skiing
Tea tray racing
That snowboarding race where four set off at the same time

I think you have to be extremely good friends with your partner to do that doubles luge

Half pipes, downhill skiing, ice dancing....meh

 

[nickyboy]

My mum's parents used to curl. They were quite good at local league level and tried to teach me to play as a youngster. Not an easy thing to master, particularly as an excitable 7/8 year old. Still love watching it but the dedication to get good at it (like any sport I suppose, but especially a niche one), is mind blowing.

I had a go on NYE in Edinburgh once. OK, I'd had a few so that probably didn't help. But it was extremely difficult. I hadn't realised you had to hold the brush while pushing off to launch your stone

 

[Crackle]

The Olympic ideal from a skier from Tonga who finished the 15k cross country ski race after only skiing for the first time 2 years ago

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/16/pita-taufatofua-tonga-skier-15km-pyeongchang

His 56:41.1 finish was a vast improvement over his modest goals before the race: “Finish before they turn the lights off. That’s number one. Don’t ski into a tree. That’s number two.”

 

[srw]

The Olympic ideal from a skier from Tonga who finished the 15k cross country ski race after only skiing for the first time 2 years ago

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/16/pita-taufatofua-tonga-skier-15km-pyeongchang

His 56:41.1 finish was a vast improvement over his modest goals before the race: “Finish before they turn the lights off. That’s number one. Don’t ski into a tree. That’s number two.”

The article hints it's not his first Olympic experience - it turns out he competed in Rio in Taekwondo.

 

[Beebo]

Bugger.
I was hoping so much that Elise Christie would win this time.
Looks like she might be badly hurt which would ruin her 1000m chances.

 

[AndyRM]

Bugger.
I was hoping so much that Elise Christie would win this time.
Looks like she might be badly hurt which would ruin her 1000m chances.

On the way to hospital for a scan. Looked a sore one. Really feel for her, she's had absolutely rotten luck.

ETA - Nothing broken, going in the 1,000m on Tuesday.