Olympic curling tournament. The awesomeness and the embarrassment.

For the first time ever, three curling disciplines are on the Winter Olympics agenda. The mixed doubles category has been added to the classics, and it already knows its medallists. Although. Do they really? There have been reports that one of the participants has tested positive for doping, and the name most often mentioned is Alexander Krushelnitsky, the bronze medalist. If confirmed, this will be a major scandal for a sport that is said to be a sport of gentlemen. And, of course, another problem for Russia. The bronze would go to the Norwegians (Nedregotten and Skaslien), but they have already left the venue.

The Swedes put on a great performance in the men's category and the women's category. But I remember an amazing stone by Rasmus Stjerne of Denmark in the match against Switzerland, when he made a double in the eighth end to give his team a chance to win. I watch the hard-working Japanese, the enthusiastic Koreans and the cool Canadians, the stick-hearted Scots/Brits, the improving Swiss and the precise Canadians. It's a great show, but there are a few things I regret. More and more I see the throwing of foreign stones in the rings in front of the tee line, the unsportsmanlike behavior of the players after missed stones, and perhaps most of all the unconvincing performance of the umpires in questionable situations. On the other hand, I have to appreciate the decision that resulted in a complete exchange of stone sets between the mixed doubles and standard curling competitions. The seemingly insignificant factor that three participants (B. Hamilton, M. Hamilton, J. Perret) had the opportunity to get acquainted with the stones already in the mixed doubles competition, with the assumption that this establishes an unfair advantage, was the main impetus for the total replacement. In addition, the glaciers decided to paper the rocks (during the competition!!) because they were not spinning enough.

Czech viewers are deprived of curling coverage - there are only six on CT 4 compared to the twenty-two from Sochi - and the only source of inspiration for curling fans and players is Eurosport, but it has relegated the matches to the less accessible channels 3, 4 and 5. Four years ago, several hundred thousand Czechs watched the curling tournament; this year it will certainly be less. But despite all the shortcomings and difficulties, Olympic curling is still a great spectacle and an exciting experience.

Pictured here is Niklas Edin, a Swedish skip.