The Winter Games are often romanticized as a pure test of human limits, but in reality, they are a bureaucratic minefield where the rulebook matters as much as the athlete. Behind every record-breaking jump or lightning-fast run lies a dense web of regulations governing everything from fabric tension to invisible chemical residue.

Officials with World Curling on Saturday clarified throw rules after tempers flared during a men’s curling round-robin contest between Sweden and Canada on Friday.