The reigning Olympic champions are ready for their debut: Stefania Constantini And Amos Mosaner they will be on track today, February 5th at 10:05 am. On home ice in Cortina, the golden duo of Beijing 2022 will face South Korea in the first mixed doubles match. To really understand what we will see on the track at Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympicswe had a chat with Stefania, who knows the ice better than anyone else. We had them explain not only the rules, but also the science of curling and what happens physically when we see athletes furiously brushing the ice (sweeping) and because this sport is much more tiring than it seems on TV.
Stefania, let’s start from the basics for those who have seen Curling at home or don’t know it. The goal seems simple: get closer to the center. But how does scoring really work?
Yes, the goal is to launch the stone (8 per team) – the rounded stones – along a frozen field of approx 40 meters and place them in the “house”, the circles you see at the end of the track. The score has a peculiarity, at the end of the hand (end), scores points just one team: the one that has the stone closest to the absolute center. If I am the yellow team and I have 8 stones in the house, but the opponent only has one but it is closer to the center than my best, the point is theirs. You understand well that the strategy is key: simply shooting to the center on the first shot is useless, because the opponent will immediately bounce you away.
Let’s move on to the question everyone asks, what physically happens when you scrape ice with those brooms?
This is where it comes into play ice physics. You should know that our surface is not as smooth as that of figure skating or hockey. It is an “orange peel” surface. Before the race, theice maker (the ice technician, ed) passes with a special backpack-dispenser and sprays water droplets which, by freezing, create the so-called pebble. The rock travels over these tiny “hills”.
When we sweep with Force And high frequencywe generate heat by friction. This heat warms the surface and creates a microscopic water patina at the tip of the droplets. This has two immediate effects. The first is that butmaintains speed of the stone by reducing friction, the stone does not slow down and can reach a few meters further.
In addition, cholds the trajectory“to curl” in English means “to curl” or to curve. We throw the stone by impressing a rotation (clockwise or counterclockwise) to make him do one parable. By sweeping, we can decide to keep the trajectory straighter or make it “curve” more. We decide where to stop it.
Let’s talk about stone. They seem handy, but how much do they weigh?
They weigh 20kg. It’s true that we don’t have to lift them but let them slide, but managing such a weight requires a perfect technique. When you are young, the stone often commands your body, but as you grow up, you learn to use your body to command the stone.
In addition to brooms and round stones, you have very particular shoes, how are they made?
That’s right, first of all they are not skates, as we often tend to think. We have asymmetric shoes. Under the “pushing” foot we have a rubber sole with grip to make friction on the ice. Under the other foot – the one that goes forward in the lunge – there is a sole teflon slippery (slider, ed). It is a system that allows us to do that elongated lunge typical of our sport. Then when we have to walk normally, we put a rubberized protection over the slippery sole.
When two stones reach the millimetre, what instrument do you use?
Sometimes it is impossible to tell with the naked eye which stone is closest to the center. A mechanical tool that resembles a compass: you aim at the center of the house and turn a metal rod with a lever that touches the stone and moves a hand on a dial. If even with that the distance is identical… the score is 0-0.
From the outside, curling may seem like a “static” sport. How important is athletic preparation and how much do you really struggle physically during a match?
To make this aspect understood, I always invite you to try! I have a friend who lifts weights and when he tried it he had to change his mind. The effort is certainly there. Matches can also last 2 and a half hours and in tournaments we even play two a day, for a whole week.
The action of the sweep is an “interval” work, the heart rate it shoots high as you sweep furiously, then you have to recover in a few seconds and lower your heart rate to be clear for the next throw. We train 6 days a week, with two ice sessions per day or with an ice session and a physical preparation session in which we alternate gym (weights), metabolic training (bike/run) and a lot of work on core stability.
You said an interesting thing about the heartbeat. How do you manage tension when you’re fighting for a medal?
Curling is weird. In a sprint, theadrenaline helps you push harder. With us it’s the opposite: adrenaline is almost an “enemy”. If you are too loaded, you lose the sensitivity. We must perceive thrust differences of a tenth of a second; if you are agitated, you no longer “feel” your body and risk throwing the stone too hard and “going too long”. The real challenge is mental, you have to learn to listen to you deeply, control joy or anger in an instant, reset and pull.
You won gold in Beijing, the first Italian Olympic medal in the history of curling. Now the Olympics are coming to home. What sensations do you have?
In Beijing I and Amos Mosaner we accomplished what we had only done on the podium, singing the anthem. We were on the roof of the world. But Milan-Cortina will be unique. I have always had the dream of participating in the Olympics but I never imagined playing them at home, usually our sport takes us to Canada or Scandinavia.
I’m from Cortina, I will play in the stadium where I grew up. It will be strange but wonderful to feel the warmth of the Italian public. The goal is to enjoy the moment while staying grounded, focused on every single stone.
Has anything changed for curling in Italy after your success? And what do you expect for the future of the movement after Milan-Cortina?
Yes, there has been a small change. Before the Olympics, when we traveled in the national team uniform, people asked us what sport we played and often didn’t even know what curling was. After the gold there was a real “burst of knowledge“: Many people watched our games during the Olympic Games and now everyone knows what it is.
Going forward, my hope is that these home Olympics bring a “second wave“, but different, I would like people not just to watch it, but to come and experience it. Our movement is still small and needs to grow.
I hope that there is more media attention also during the 4 years between one Olympics and another, because to truly become passionate you need to be able to follow sport continuously, not just every four years.
Do you have any advice to young people who dream of a future in sport and perhaps at the Olympics?
First of all about believe strongly in what you do. In my opinion the key in sport is also to define a objective. Understanding where you want to get to makes the path concrete and helps you understand how to work on it. And don’t be scared of failures: they are just moments to reanalyze what didn’t work and try again with more determination.
