Karelian stone workers produced the samples of curling stones
After finalization, a trial batch of sports equipment will be tested in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi, where curling is included in the basic kinds of sports. Olga Shashlova, the General Director of the Russian Curling Federation, spoke about it at the plenary meeting of “Karelforum-2024”.
The Karelian stone workers produced the first samples of curling stones. Previously, they were made in Canada from Scottish granite. After the departure of foreign companies that supplied this sports equipment to Russia, Karelia plans to provide curlers with the necessary equipment.
– Selecting the required granite for a stone is not so easy. An attempt to make stones from Ural granite, as well as granite mined in other regions, did not give the desired results. We hope that this niche will be occupied by the Karelian stone processors, – noted Olga Shashlova.
Currently, research has been carried out to determine the qualitative composition of Karelian granite rocks, which is similar to Scottish granite. The republican stone processors produced several prototypes of stones.
– According to experts, the stones have become better. After elimination of comments, their extended testing will be carried out in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, and other cities where curling is a basic kind of sport. The Curling Federation hopes that Russia will produce high-level curling stones that will not be inferior in characteristics to their Scottish and Canadian counterparts, – emphasized Olga Shashlova.
As part of “Karelforum-2024”, the Chairman of the Association of the Stone Processors of the Republic of Karelia Dmitry Fabrikantov and the General Director of the Russian Curling Federation Olga Shashlova signed a cooperation agreement.
