The 24th Winter Olympic Games will kick off in Beijing on February 4, 2022.
The Sports Department of Chinanews.com has launched a series of column "Hundred Questions about the Winter Olympics", which aims to popularize the knowledge of the Winter Olympics, answer hot questions, share interesting stories about ice and snow, and help everyone have a better viewing experience at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The 101st Winter Olympics Questions | What's so special about curlers' "boots"?
First of all, please guess, which of the two pairs of shoes in the picture below is more expensive?
Hint: One of them is a professional curling shoe!
The answer will be revealed later.
What is the difference between curling shoes and ordinary leather shoes?
Curling shoes look like ordinary leather shoes on the surface, but their soles are very knowledgeable.
The bottom of the left curling shoe hides a skateboard made of plastic, which has less friction on the ice and can slide.
The sole of the right foot curling shoe is cushioned with a non-slip pad made of rubber, which has a large friction force on the ice.
When the athlete "brakes", the curling shoes can play the role of emergency braking on the ice.
The sport of curling has a high threshold, and seemingly simple movements on the ice are inseparable from long-term training.
On February 5, Chinese team player Ling Zhi was in the game.
On the same day, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics curling mixed doubles round-robin competition continued at the "Ice Cube" of the Beijing National Swimming Center. The Chinese team lost 5-7 to the US team.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Cui Nan
Friends who experience curling for the first time may encounter some "small difficulties" when driving curling shoes, such as:
Difficulty 1: Walking upright on ice requires a certain amount of time to adapt to ensure the body balance during the sliding process;
Difficulty 2: You need to use a curling rub during the sliding process. Even friends who have played many times may accidentally fall down when rubbing the ice surface hard;
Difficulty 3: After standing on the ice for a period of time, the experiencer may confuse the functions of the left and right curling shoes and stagnate on the ice;
Difficulty 4: It is difficult for beginners to make their own complete pitching movements even with the help of a balancer when pitching...
Back to the beginning of the question, which of these two pairs of shoes is more expensive?
The answer to the mystery is revealed - the left side of the picture is professional curling shoes, in fact, these shoes are the equipment worn by Chinese curling athlete Ling Zhi at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Generally, the price of curling shoes ranges from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars for a pair.
Did you guess right?