Curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics

Curling at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games was held at the Cortina Olympic Stadium, with a total of 102 athletes (51 men, 51 women) from 14 nations competing in three events - men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles. Estonia made their Olympic début with the mixed doubles team of Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill.

Since Beijing 2022, World Curling added limits on certain sweeping techniques and tighter brush-head equipment rules, clarified delivery and double-touch enforcement so stones could be removed for violations, and refined umpiring procedures (including adjustments during the 2026 Games) to improve consistency, while keeping core gameplay and scoring rules the same.

At Milano-Cortina 2026, men’s and women’s teams received 38 minutes of thinking time per 10-end game with one 60-second timeout; mixed doubles had 22 minutes per eight ends and the same timeout allowance. Clocks run only during strategy, not while stones are in motion. Tied games go to a full extra end (or ends in mixed doubles) with additional thinking time and a timeout for each team until a winner is decided. Teams may substitute an injured player at the start of the next end or continue with three players, but mixed doubles does not allow substitutions. These timing, extra-end, and substitution rules remained consistent throughout the 2022 Beijing event.

A rules dispute over double-touching the stone sparked debate about officiating and sportsmanship. Still, it did not affect the medal results and highlighted ongoing concerns about consistency in rule interpretations during the Games.

Traditional powers battled for podium positions, making curling one of the most competitive and closely watched sports of the Games. Sweden, Canada and Switzerland won two medals each, with Sweden leading with two golds (mixed doubles, women).

Spectators were greeted with traditional bagpipe music at the venue, a nod to curling’s Scottish heritage. The performance was delivered by an Italian pipe band in full traditional attire.