Games boost interest in curling

Hundreds of Scots have signed up to try curling for the first time after the Winter Olympics brought a surge of interest in the sport.

Curling clubs across Scotland said that usually quiet sessions aimed at beginners have become hugely popular since the start of the Games in South Korea.

Britain’s men’s and women’s curling teams edged closer to qualification for the Olympic semi-finals in Pyeongchang on Monday, both recording narrow wins.

In non-olympic years around 1,000 people register for Scottish Curling’s Try Curling sessions, but in 2014 interest in the Sochi Games meant the figure was close to 5,000.

The body said clubs around the country had been reporting “a lot of interest” among people keen to try the sport for the first time this month.

Evie Chamberlain, sport development manager for Murrayfield curling rink in Edinburgh, said there had been a ten-fold increase in the number of people signing up.

David Horne, curling development officer at Braehead in Glasgow, said his life had been “manic” since the Games started.