You never know what will happen in the days before the Olympics start, though few had ski jumpers injecting their penises with acid in a bid to improve sporting performance on their bingo card.
Tantrums at the ice skating and rows over helmets at the skeleton might have been more predictable, but sometimes you just want the reassuring sounds of curling to remind you the Games have really begun.
It’s sport’s ultimate ASMR – the echoing shouts of “hurry hard” as stones rumble across the pebbled ice, the scratching and scrubbing of brooms, followed by the hollow clank of granite on granite.
If leather on willow is the sound of summer, then close your eyes at the curling and winter is coming. However, whisper it quietly: something is brewing over at the roarin’ game.
Four years ago, it was Great Britain’s curlers who bailed the wider team out, claiming the only two medals of the Beijing Olympics – a men’s silver and a women’s gold – both secured on the final weekend.
On the early evidence of these Games, Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds could give them a flying start in the days ahead.
The pair admitted they were still smarting from their medal miss in the mixed event in 2022, the childhood friends from Edinburgh having thrown away a lead in the semi-finals before being soundly beaten in the bronze-medal match.
They have responded in style, with a perfect three wins from three. It hasn’t been flawless, though, as Mouat and Dodds narrowly overcame former world silver medallists Estonia’s Mari Kaldvee and Harri Lill 8-6, with an end to spare, before edging past the Czech pair Vit Chabicovsky and Julie Zelingrova.
They took an early advantage and seemed in control before conceding a fifth-end triple and needed Dodds to keep a super-steady hand to cling on for an 8-7 win. Zelingrova spurned a chance to clinch victory as the shot clock hurried her into a final-stone mistake.
It leaves Team GB joint top of the early standings alongside powerhouse Canada, who beat world champions and favourites Italy’s Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini in a statement of intent.
Those two teams will clash on Saturday morning, while Mouat and Dodds’ Friday opponents in the ten-team round-robin stage are winless Korea and Sweden. Two wins there and a place in the knockouts will be odds-on.
“You have to win ugly sometimes and that was probably that game,” admitted Dodds of the Czech victory. “In mixed doubles, you’re never safe, even when you’re up three in the last end, and it was getting a bit nervy at some points.
“I’m here to support Bruce as much as possible. There are times that I don’t play well and Bruce is absolutely amazing, but this was vice versa.
“You’re a team and you’re in it together; we’ll figure out whatever Bruce needs to help step it up a little.”
Mouat, who is favourite for gold in the men’s event after guiding Scotland to world gold last year, admitted he is still adjusting to the ice.
“It’s exactly how we wanted to start the event,” he said. “We just wanted to put a better foot forward, but three wins is exactly what we need at this point.
“We’ve got some tough games ahead and we’re going to have to perform a little better. Jen’s playing amazingly; it’s just that I need to help her a little.
“I wasn’t playing my best and I can’t blame the ice – I can only blame myself. There were some tricky spots in there; I think it’s manageable. It’s just that I’ve not figured it out yet, so I’m going to have to figure it out faster.”
TNT Sports on discovery+ will be the go-to destination in the U.K to watch everything of Milano Cortina 2026 live all in one place, with over 850 hours of action from every sport, venue, and medal event.
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