Quote:
Originally Posted by Pizza
Couldn't they do doubles curling? Two men or two women leagues? In my mind, that would make sense and would coincide with some of the benefits that the curlers would cite for this new league. It's just with this format, it has to be a male & female pairing.
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The World Curling Federation, or one of the other bodies, asked for mixed curling (2 men and 2 women) to be included in the Olympics. The IOC said no, as it was too similar to the men's and women's events. That's when the push to get the doubles event was made.
The doubles game really helps grow the game. You only need two people. In countries/towns where there aren't a lot of curlers, this helps out. In order to play a regular game you need 8 people. In order to play a doubles game you only need 4.
Here are some teams that were at the 2017 mixed doubles event: Bulgaria, Spain, Ireland, Romania, Kazakhstan, Latvia. I would be shocked if these countries had curling rinks. Now, they are able to send teams to the world championships. That is exciting, and how the game is grown. Some of these may end up curling in four person events.