How much do curling stones weigh? Explaining the Winter Olympic sport

It’s one of the most iconic events at the Winter Olympics with curling producing entertainment at Beijing 2022.

Great Britain have proven their class in the mixed doubles with Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds.

An impressive win over the USA 8-4 has set up a tantalising semi-final against Norway.

“It was our best team performance of the week and exactly the way we want to go into the semi-finals,” Mouat said. “We put a lot of stones in good spots to put them under pressure. Our draw weight was on point which is exactly what you need in mixed doubles.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the stones used by the athletes on the ice.

The lights are a tracking system to ensure the athletes release the stone before the first hog line - the red line at both ends where both teams must release the stone before passing it.

During Team USA’s second game against Italy, Stefania Constantini was penalised with a hogline violation in the sixth end.

A heat sensor is embedded into the ice and will be triggered if your hand continues to hold onto the handle while breaching the line, meaning each stone has batteries to power these sensors.

Failure to release your hand before the line will turn the lights red and that team will be forced to remove it from play.

It rarely happens at this elite level, but such is the pressure at the Winter Olympics, it can occasionally happen.

The official USA Curling rulebook states that each curling stone cannot be greater than 44 pounds (19.96kg) in weight, and no less than 38 pounds (17.24kg). The handle is included as part of the weight.

The stone’s circumference cannot exceed 36 inches (91.4cm) and cannot exceed 4.5 inches (11.43cm) in height.

The stones are made of a special type of granite, which is