Team, Women

Women’s curling at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games took place at the Cortina Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo from 12-22 February. It featured 44 athletes representing 10 nations in a round-robin format, with the top four teams advancing to the medal playoffs.

Sweden, Canada, and Switzerland were widely regarded as medal contenders, with the United States trying to get on the podium. Sweden, led by skip Anna Hasselborg, the 2018 Olympic Champion and 2019 World Champion, brought veteran experience and consistency. Two-time Olympian and three-time World Champion (2017, 2024, 2025), Canada’s Rachel Homan, arrived in Milano-Cortina after winning the last two consecutive World titles. Seasoned Swiss skip Silvana Tirinzoni, also a two-time Olympian (2018, 2022), arrived with four World titles (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023). The United States, skipped by Tabitha Peterson-Lovick, brought her previous Olympic experience from PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022, along with the 2021 World Championships bronze medal, and was joined by her younger sister Tara Peterson again, having been on her squad at Beijing 2022.

During pool play, Sweden proved the most consistent team, finishing atop the standings with only two losses. Canada struggled early, including a surprising 9-8 loss to the United States – the first Olympic women’s curling victory ever by the USA over Canada. Losses to Great Britain and Switzerland left Canada at 1-3 and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs before a late rally carried them to a 6-3 record. Canada’s pool performance was also marked by controversy over “double-touch” rulings, including the removal of a Canadian stone in the match against Switzerland – a call that influenced the result and heightened tension in the standings. Switzerland and the United States also finished 6–3, securing the remaining playoff berths and marking only the second time the USA had reached the Olympic women’s curling semifinals.

Sweden defeated Canada 6-3 in their semifinal, pulling away in the second half to end Canada’s gold-medal hopes. Switzerland edged the United States 7-4 with steady shot-making.

Sweden defeated Switzerland 6-5 in a tight gold medal final, securing its fourth Olympic women’s curling title and extending a streak of medals in six consecutive Games. The victory gave skip Hasselborg a third Olympic medal (golds in 2018 and 2026, bronze in 2022), further cementing her legacy in the sport. Switzerland’s silver represented its first women’s Olympic curling medal in two decades, and at age 46, Tirinzoni became not only the oldest female medalist of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games but the oldest female medallist in Olympic Winter Games history.

In the bronze medal match, Canada defeated the United States 10-7, pulling away in the middle and late ends to claim Canada’s first Olympic women’s curling medal since Sochi 2014. The United States finished fourth, matching its best-ever Olympic result in women’s curling history, which came at Beijing 2022.