Olympic Stones

February 2010 may seem a long way away but preparations for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver are well underway. The venue for the curling at Hillcrest in Vancouver is almost there, it's expected the first ice will go down next month.

And in the meantime back here in Scotland the stones to be used at the Olympics are undergoing testing at Greenacres.

Hans Wuthrich, chief icemaker for the Olympics, is in town working with Kays of Scotland to ensure the stones are matched and in tip top order for 2010. The testing involves all the stones being thrown mechanically and their final resting place recorded, then all the data is analysed and the stones are matched.

The Olympians won't be the first to get their hands on the stones, they'll be used in 2009 for the World Wheelchair and World Junior Curling Championships in the Olympic venue.

(Added later by Bob. How is stone matching carried out? If you are interested, this link will provide an overview)