The men's curling competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics opened on Wednesday with four games, including the defending gold medalists Sweden facing the home team Italy, Great Britain taking on China, Canada playing Germany, and Team USA opening against Czechia.
Here's a look at all four games, and the schedule for Thursday's matches.
USA 8, Czechia 7
|
Czechia (7) 0 |
1st end |
United States (8) 0 |
| 0 | 2nd end | 1 |
| 1 | 3rd end | 0 |
| 0 | 4th end | 1 |
| 3 | 5th end | 0 |
| 0 | 6th end | 2 |
| 1 | 7th end | 0 |
| 0 | 8th end | 3 |
| 2 | 9th end | 0 |
| 0 | 10th end | 1 |
The new-look Team USA got off to a rock solid start in Cortina, defeating Czechia on the final stone on Wednesday.
Danny Casper's team had hammer in the 10th. On the penultimate throw, Casper's throw moved Czechia's shot stone out of the house. After Czechia responded with a draw to the button, Casper again came up big, throwing his rock past two guards and into the house, pushing the Czech's shot stone past while sitting on the button for one and the eventual game-winning point.
Down 5-4 in the eighth, the U.S. got back in the game by scoring three and taking a 7-5 lead with two ends to play.
Czechia responded by evening the score in the ninth, setting up Casper's game-winning 10th.
All four of the U.S. curlers are competing in their first Olympics, and all four have now picked up their first Olympic win.
The U.S. (1-0) will next take on Switzerland on Thursday at 8:05 a.m. ET. Czechia (0-1) will take Tuesday off and return to also face Switzerland on Friday at 3:05 a.m. ET.
Italy 7, Sweden 6
|
Sweden (6) 0 |
1st end |
Italy (7) 1 |
| 0 | 2nd end | 0 |
| 0 | 3rd end | 0 |
| 1 | 4th end | 0 |
| 0 | 5th end | 3 |
| 2 | 6th end | 0 |
| 0 | 7th end | 1 |
| 2 | 8th end | 0 |
| 0 | 9th end | 2 |
| 1 | 10th end | 0 |
Italy opened their home Olympics with a victory over the defending gold medalists.
With the score tied in the ninth, Joel Retornaz came up with a double-takeout on Italy's second-to-last throw, clearing the house of Swedish stones. Niklas Edin's ensuing throw took out one Italian stone, but not the second, setting up Retornaz for a takeout. The Italian's final stone stuck for two points and a 7-5 lead going into the final end.
Sweden sat shot-stone with the hammer in the 10th, but as the clock wound down Edin didn't have much time to think over his final throw. His rock overcurled and missed the Italian stone sitting in the house. Sweden had to settle for one, and ultimately the one-point loss.
The loss puts Edin's squad 0-1 early in the tournament. They won't have a chance to dwell as they'll be right back on the ice at 8:05 a.m. ET on Friday to take on Great Britain in a rematch of the gold medal game from the last Olympics.
Italy (1-0) will take Thursday off and return at 3:05 a.m. ET on Friday to also take on Great Britain.
Great Britain 9, China 4
|
China (4) 0 |
1st end |
Great Britain (9) 1 |
| 1 | 2nd end | 0 |
| 0 | 3rd end | 3 |
| 1 | 4th end | 0 |
| 0 | 5th end | 1 |
| 1 | 6th end | 0 |
| 0 | 7th end | 3 |
| 1 | 8th end | 0 |
| 0 | 9th end | 1 |
| X | 10th end | X |
The defending world champions opened the Cortina Games in a big way on Wednesday. Bruce Mouat's team scored three points in each of the third and seventh ends on the way to a five-point victory.
Great Britain shot 89 percent as a team, and were 90 percent on takeout attempts, finishing with 46 takeouts to just 26 for China.
Team GB (1-0) will return to the ice at 8:05 a.m. ET on Thursday to take on Sweden in a rematch of the 2022 gold medal match.
China (0-1) will take off on Thursday and return on Friday to face Norway at 3:05 a.m. ET.
Canada 7, Germany 6
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Canada
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1st end |
Germany
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| 2nd end | ||
| 3rd end | ||
| 4th end | ||
| 5th end | ||
| 6th end | ||
| 7th end | ||
| 8th end | ||
| 9th end | ||
| 10th end |
It took one extra end, but Brad Jacobs' Canadian team was able to get the one point needed in the 11th to open their time in Cortina with a win.
With the score tied, Jacobs looked to give his team life in the ninth. After blanking three straight ends, his draw to the button for two gave Canada a 6-4 lead going into the final end.
Germany responded with two of their own in the 10th. Jacobs' final stone was a draw shot that got behind a German guard and was alone in the four-foot. After a timeout, Marc Muskatewitz stepped to the hog and threw a stone that took out two Canadian rocks, but looked to be going out itself. Thankfully, the German's rock spun back into the eight-foot just enough, and a measurement determined it was closer than Canada's rock, giving Muskatewitz's team two to force an extra end.
The German's momentum was short-lived. In the 11th, Jacobs's final throw hit Germany's stone on the nose, pushing it off the button and sticking for one on the game-winning shot.
Canada (1-0) will take off on Thursday and return on Friday to take on Sweden at 1:05 p.m. ET.
Germany (0-1) will face Norway on Thursday at 8:05 a.m. ET.
Coming Up
The second session of men's curling in Cortina will take place at 8:05 a.m. ET on Thursday. Three games will be played:
- USA vs. Switzerland
- Great Britain vs. Sweden
- Norway vs. Germany