Curling Surprised Me

February 11, 2026

What is your favorite Winter Olympic sport?

I did not expect to watch rocks sliding across ice.

The last two days, I sat and watched curling for the very first time.

Curling.

If you had asked me a month ago what my favorite Winter Olympic sport was, I probably would have picked something faster. Something louder. Hockey. Skiing. Biathlon, because guns on skis.

But curling surprised me.

I am still not sure I fully understand the scoring system. I catch enough of it to follow along. Something about who is closest to the center. Something about counting stones. I nod confidently at the television like I know what is happening.

But the scoring is not what hooked me.

It was the strategy.

The angles.

The quiet conversations before each throw.

The way teammates crouch behind the house, squinting down the ice like architects measuring invisible lines.

The discussion about rock placement. Whether to guard. Whether to draw. Whether to block. Whether to play it safe or take a calculated risk.

And then there is the sweeping.

I had no idea how much sweeping matters.

The urgency in the voices. The constant communication. The tiny adjustments mid-slide. It is not chaotic. It is coordinated.

It feels less like a power sport and more like chess played on ice.

That is what pulled me in.

There is something beautiful about watching people care deeply about something most of us barely think about.

They have trained for years for this. Years for a few days on the world stage. Years for moments that might look slow and quiet to the casual viewer.

It made me realize how quickly we dismiss what we do not understand.

From a distance, curling looks simple. Slide a rock. Sweep a little. Repeat.

Up close, it is layered.

It is patience.

It is restraint.

It is reading the surface.

It is teamwork.

And maybe that is why it stuck with me.

Not everything valuable is loud.

Some things reward attention.

The more I watched, the more I noticed how communal it is. No one wins alone. The thrower depends on the sweepers. The sweepers depend on the caller. Every decision ripples forward.

You protect your good shots. You try to recover from the bad ones. You think two or three moves ahead.

That feels familiar.

Life is not always about dramatic sprints. Sometimes it is about positioning. Sometimes it is about protecting what matters. Sometimes it is about reducing friction so something good can travel a little farther.

There is a moment in growth where we realize that risk and strategy go hand in hand. I wrote about that in Embrace the Unknown: Why Taking Risks Leads to…. Curling feels like that. You can play it safe, or you can attempt a shot that might change the end entirely.

There is courage in both.

The Olympics have a way of introducing us to sports we might never seek out on our own. They widen our lens. They invite us into disciplines we barely knew existed.

And sometimes, unexpectedly, we get hooked.

So now I am curious.

What is your favorite Winter Olympic sport?

Has it always been that way?

Do you love the speed of downhill skiing? The artistry of figure skating? The collisions of hockey? The nerve required for ski jumping?

Or did something quiet catch you off guard the way curling caught me?

I think there is something fun about being surprised by your own interests.

About discovering that something you once ignored has depth.

Maybe that is part of the joy of the Winter Olympics.

Not just cheering for a medal.

But learning to appreciate forms of dedication that do not look like your own.

This week, mine is curling.

Angles. Ice. Strategy. Sweeping.

Who knew?

Now it is your turn.

What is your favorite Winter Olympic sport to watch?

And what does it say about the way you like to see the world move?