Curling: The calming, cool and stylish winter sport you didn't know about

There have been plenty of moments from Beijing 2022 that people will remember.

Still, it feels as though no sport has had more of a wider impact on the watching world than curling.

Coming into the Olympic Winter Games, curling will have been an incredibly obscure sport to hold an interest in, but now there are armchair experts everywhere who have been completely captivated by it in recent weeks.

Some will have been analysing every Olympian's shot while others have thought up their own versions of the game, but it seems as though everybody has loved curling no matter how they've express it.

Curling has provided so many unforgettable moments throughout this Olympic Winter Games: Australia's mixed doubles pulling off one of the biggest shocks in history by beating Canada; Italy's mixed doubles winning their nation's first-ever curling medal and making it gold for good measure; Great Britain's men and women securing their country's first medals of the Games; Sweden's Niklas Edin finally winning Olympic gold at the fourth attempt.

There have also been plenty of matches decided by the finest of margins, with some leaving novice fans bemused as they attempt to learn the rules - getting a slightly better grasp on them by watching end after end.

Even for those who hadn't watched the sport before this year, there was also plenty of recognisable skill that some have tried to recreate.

It also helps any sport appeal to the masses when there are eye-catching characters involved, and Team USA's Matt Hamilton definitely fits the bill.

In the past, he has been known for his moustache, but his sense of style and hair have caught plenty of attention of their own - even getting a mention from "Mr. The Rock".

However, the hair is not completely for fashion. "It's been quite a journey,” Hamilton explained ahead of USA's opening round match with ROC. “I'm going to cut it and donate it to a children's wig foundation. And I'm trying to raise some money with one of the charities I'm working with, an awesome non-profit out of New York that is doing brain cancer research."

That non-profit is called Stache Strong, which has raised more than $1.75 million for the cause - it's not the first time Hamilton has grown his hair for this purpose.

Even the curling stones themselves have an interesting back story.

The same Scottish island has produced both the granite and craftsmanship that goes into making the stones used since the very first Olympic Winter Games: Chamonix 1924.

Slabs are brought in from the yard, put onto the coring machine and ground down to size before being shaped and polished - one is made every hour and 38 are completed each week before eventually being shipped.

Due to the widespread attention curling has been able to capture, there might even be some budding curlers waiting to get involved and send those very stones gliding across the ice.

To start with, they've had to settle for an apple, socks or any other household items as they give it a go in their own houses - while this is also likely proving the best way of convincing loved ones to get the broom out.

One of the actual competitors, Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa, wrote on her hand: "I am a good curler. I have confidence. Let's have fun!"

We've all fulfilled the last of those mantras while watching the curling at Beijing 2022, even if the first is reserved for the Olympians for now.

Is there any other curling I can watch?

There is still one more curling match you can watch at this year's Olympic Winter Games, as Japan and Great Britain go for gold in the women's event.

Skips Fujisawa and Eve Muirhead will be hoping to lead their respective nations to glory when they meet on Sunday 20 February at 09:05 Beijing time (10:05 in Japan and 01:05 in Great Britain).