How do brooms affect stones in curling? Here's what to know as the popular 2026 Winter Olympics competition begins at Milano Cortina Games.

Even if pots, pans, hair products — and even babies — can do the trick in a pinch, they're nothing like the curling stones on the ice in Cortina. If you want Olympic-level material, you'll have to look to the uninhabited isle of Ailsa Cragi, located 10 miles (16 kilometers) off the coast of Scotland.

As the Winter Olympics get underway, folks are curious about the sport of curling, and they want to know how using brooms affect the stone’s path.

There's a broom to sweep on the ice in curling because, simply put, of science. Once the stone is sent toward the other end of the ice, one of the team members can control its path a bit by sweeping.

Sande Curling Innovations, an organization based in Winnipeg dedicated to generating ideas and discussion about the sport of curling, approached the CIC to bring their idea of a better broom design that would allow a curler to apply constant pressure ...

Learn more about curling, one of the Winter Olympics’ most fascinating events, from the UC curlers who know and love it.

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Olympic curling has officially been changed... for good. Enter Erivo, donning a jaw-dropping all-black winter coat — holding her character Elphaba's broom from Wicked, of course.