The popularity of curling as a sport has mystified audiences; however, this is a sport many people enjoy, and one I have just started paying attention to.

As far as I can tell, you have to have a tremendous amount of focus in order to succeed at this sport.

For those who don’t know what curling is, here are a few rules to help you understand the game better.

First, that tea kettle-shaped rock is called the stone. If a stone rolls over while in motion, or comes to rest on its side or top, it is removed from play immediately. If the stone is touched after launching, then it is removed from play immediately. The equipment includes curling brooms, curling shoes, and the rock. A team may not play if they have less than three players.

A few days ago I knew nothing about curling, but after the USA took its first ever medal with the gold at the South Korean Olympics, it now matters to me.

Curling is a big deal now–big enough for athletes to take performance enhancing drugs to win.

Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitzky was stripped of his bronze medal he won in mixed doubles for a doping scandal at the Olympics. On February 18, it was made public that Alexander’s doping test was positive for meldonium. He was one of the 168 Russian athletes that made it to Pyeongchang to compete. It’s crazy to see that the Russians didn’t even compete under their own flag because of all the doping.

I was happy when I heard the USA won gold. People are now calling it the “Miracurl on Ice.” The USA men defeated Sweden to win America’s first Olympic gold medal in curling! The members of the USA curling team were Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, Joe Polo, John Shuster and John Landsteiner. These guys may never be mainstream celebrities, but they did what no American had done before.

This is a big win for the USA. The team that usually wins is Canada, but this year they didn’t even medal. This is a big surprise because they are supposed to be the “powerhouse” of the curling division. The U.S and Canada battled through eight ties before John Shuster’s team pulled through in the eighth end to win 5-3 and advance the USA to the medal round.

Curling is exciting because you never know what could happen. For instance, on Feb. 24, team USA shocked the world on Feb.24 when they made a comeback from their early struggles to beat Sweden 10-7 and win the gold.

Now that I know what’s going on in curling, I am looking forward to  what 2022 has it store for us. I’m hoping the U.S. can get back-to-back wins.