It's all about the science.
Why they sweep with a broom in curling on the ice originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
There are no other Olympic sports like curling.
And this is the time on the calendar when curling enters the wider consciousness. The 2026 Winter Olympics are underway, and the United States has a mixed doubles team competing for a gold medal, still with the men's and women's competitions to go.
Curling isn't a sport that most fans generally watch, so there are always questions.
They want to know about powerplays.
They want to know how many ends are left in each match.
Mostly, they just want to understand the science behind sweeping with brooms on ice.
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Why do they sweep with a broom on the ice in curling?
There's a broom to sweep on the ice in curling because, simply put, of science.
Once the stone is sent toward the other end of the ice, one of the team members can control its path a bit by sweeping.
Any spot of the ice that is swept has friction added to it. That slightly melts the ice, which reduces resistance and allows the stone to travel further.
So any time you see a curling athlete sweeping vigorously, it's to create friction to melt ice to keep the speed of the stone going at a solid rate.
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If they want the stone to slow down, they stop sweeping.
They can also slightly curve a stone by creating an imbalance in the path with sweeping only a half or so of where the stone is going. Then it'll want to travel slightly different speeds in two directions, creating a bit of a curve.
And these athletes often sweep with some serious intensity. They're out of breath at the end.
The science, and the effort that goes into it, is really cool to watch.
More Olympics news:
- This U.S. luge star was parodied on SNL
- NBC's drone cameras have everyone's attention
- The Winter Olympics mascots are adorable
- Mike Tirico had a crazy flight to get from the Super Bowl to the Olympics
- Chloe Kim has to make an adjustment at Olympics for injury
- Breezy Johnson won a gold medal for the U.S., and then she broke it
Category: General Sports
