What kind of shoes you need to play Curling

The incredible victory of Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini in the mixed doubles of curling at the Beijing Olympics exploded the enthusiasm for this very strange sport that only a few years ago was considered one of the absurdities that could only be experienced at the Olympics. Instead, stone after stone, sweep after sweep and, above all, victory after victory, Mosaner and Costantini have captured the eyes of Italians on television. Their ten consecutive victories turned into a beautiful gold medal bringing a 350-member movement to the top of the world. 

But curling is truly a sport of unique aesthetics, a chess on ice with nearly twenty-pound granite stone and players gliding across the field as if on wheels. Yeah, but how do they moonwalk like Michael Jackson while calculating with pinpoint accuracy the trajectories of their stones. The secret is obviously in the shoes, which unlike what one might initially think, have neither skates nor wheels, which are forbidden by the rules. 

Curling is one of those sports in which the shoes are asymmetrical, that is, they are different according to the role they have to play. The front shoe, the one opposite to the hand that releases the stone and is called The Slider, is perfectly smooth with a sole usually made of Teflon or stainless steel while the other - called The Gripper - which remains behind to control the forward movement has a very soft rubber sole and the toe of the foot reinforced to resist the continuous rubbing. In addition, the two shoes must have an identical weight, to prevent the athlete from becoming unbalanced while sliding on the ice surface. The other player, the one who is in charge of rubbing the ice surface with the broom, on the other hand, usually wears two Sliders that allow him to move with precision and rapidity while maintaining a step before the stone. 

The slider can be either a shoe made especially for competition, or a classic sneaker on which to apply a Teflon slip-on. A cheaper solution for those who want to begin to juggle in this very strange sport, costing between 20 and 30 dollars, while for a pair of high-end curling shoes you can spend up to 250 dollars. But if the golden medal of Mosaner and Constantini has hyped you up, you might decide to launch yourself and try this already cult sport.