There's a different number of ends in mixed doubles curling than the men's and women's Olympic competition

There's a different number of ends in mixed doubles curling than the men's and women's Olympic competition originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

United States sports fans are getting to enjoy a gold medal pursuit in a sport the U.S. hasn't gotten this far in before.

The mixed doubles curling Olympics gold medal match is on Tuesday, and before now, the United States had never won any medal in this discipline. This time around, though, Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin are making history.

New fans have been asking all sorts of questions about the sport, and there are things that are different in mixed doubles curling than your standard men's or women's competitions.

For one, there are powerplays.

Even more notable, though, is the amount of turns each team gets, called an end.

There's a different number of ends in mixed doubles curling than in the men's or women's competitions at the Olympics.

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How many ends are there in curling?

Specifically in mixed doubles curling, there are eight ends.

Think of them like innings in baseball, the amount of rounds each team gets to aim their stones.

This is a shorter match than in the men's and women's competitions at the Olympics, which each have 10-round matches.

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That's in part because the men's and women's competing teams each have four players. Since mixed doubles is only two, they're asked to play for a shorter amount of time.

It's still a lot of curling, though, and a chance for all kinds of drama and strategy, especially when a gold medal is on the line.

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