PEBBLES AND STONES
On the other track no pebbles only grooves,
grayish, gravel with hair and gullies that can drink ice
stuck in the house. Some grit here too, high
against the boards of the ice rink,
no stone to be seen, a house of lost stones
for made-up people, a vanished species
who lived on water and stone
in a time without a pointer.
Now I fly, the camera itself does not have to move, one eye
I am made of moisture, and there I see air passing, below,
a player like a ballerina with her nose pointed forward
ice cream, and I’m floating here with a song between my teeth
I’m going to hit that stone.
CURLING STANDING STRONG
Curling ice is much colder than the ice for other sports. The ice is rock hard and slippery. Imperfections in the ice can easily cause a curling stone to change course.
One type of imperfection is deliberately introduced. Just before the competition, the ice master sprays the ice with very fine water droplets. The droplets freeze on the surface, forming small bumpy ice crystals.
After the stone has been thrown by a player, two team members slide along with the stone and sweep the ice with a broom. By sweeping the ice just in front of the stone, the top layer of ice melts. The stone therefore glides longer in a straight path.
Curlers wear special shoes. There is a slider under one shoe. This allows them to slide with the stone while sweeping. A gripper under the other shoe helps prevent them from slipping.
Curlers practice proper load management, they stand strong.
FlatIce. Almost everyone knows that ice is a solid form of water, and that it can take very different forms, ranging from iceco, iceberg, glacier or icicle, to hail, snow or flatice.
Flat ice apparently invites competition to such an extent that many disciplines are performed on it during the Winter Olympics.
The Netherlands has so far won a medal twice during the Winter Olympics on coarse ice. Nicolien Sauerbreij won gold with in snowboard parallel giant slalom in 2010 at Cypress Mountain (CAN). Kimberley Bos won bronze in the skeleton event in 2022 in the Yanqing Sliding Center (CHN).
Apart from skating, the Netherlands has never won a medal on flat ice during the Winter Games. This is about to change. Not now, not immediately, but from a top sporting point of view, within a reasonable period of time.
Statistically speaking, there are great chances in icy discilpine curling. Why would you just pass up a great opportunity?
