7 February 2026
Czechia claim first round-robin win at Olympic Winter Games
Czechia beat Republic of Korea by 9-4 in Saturday afternoon’s eighth mixed doubles round-robin session, recording their first win of the competition so far.
This leaves the Koreans as the only team now looking for a victory.
The Czechs started well, scoring two in the opening end thanks to a tap-back from Julie Zelingrova. Korea then levelled the game with a single point in the second end and a single steal in the third, but Czechia dominated from then on.
A hit-and-roll by Zelingrova secured Czechia two more points for a 4-2 lead in the fourth end. In the fifth, an umpire’s measure determined that Republic of Korea’s Kim Seonyeong was too light with her final draw, and Czechia stole two more points to improve their lead to 6-2.
Republic of Korea got two points back in the sixth end, but then a take-out by Zelingrova in the seventh gave the Czechs three more points, extending their lead to 9-4.
Czechia then ran Republic of Korea out of stones in the eighth end, securing their first win.
Afterwards, Czechia’s Vit Chabicovsky reflected on his team’s Olympic experience so far: “These are the best teams in the world, in the best possible shape, so it’s definitely harder [than the Olympic Qualification Event],” he said.
“Also, there is so much attention on us, so that’s different. I’m enjoying the Olympics more with the win now but it is great. It is perfect — the Czech lounge is amazing.”
About the competition, he added, “We’re still learning. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but hopefully we’ll be able to come back.
“We’ve learned more from the losses. We’re under no pressure really, so losing is just part of the sport.”
While Czechia were recording their first win, Great Britain carved out their seventh. They beat United States of America by 6-4 to preserve their unbeaten record, stay at the top of the table, and become the first to qualify for the semi-finals.
The British duo started strong, scoring two in the first end and then stealing one in the second for a 3-0 lead. It took an umpire’s measure in the third end to give the Americans their first point of the game, but the British scored another single point in the fourth to go into the break with a 4-1 lead.
The Americans closed the gap in the fifth end when Cory Thiesse drew her final stone to score three and tie the game at 4-4. However, Great Britain responded with a single point in the sixth end and a single steal in the seventh, before running the Americans out of stones in the eighth end. This confirmed their 6-4 win.
After this win, Bruce Mouat said, “We’re working really hard to get those seven wins. Every single team that we’ve played has been amazing. We’ve had to fight for every inch and that’s what curling is.”
He added, “The big thing for us now is to go into the play-offs with hammer. We’ve done a lot of good things so far, we just need to win one or two more games to secure hammer.”
Despite this loss, United States of America stay in second place on the table with a won four, lost one record.
Elsewhere in this session, Sweden continued their recovery with a second win of the day —by 9-4 over defending champions Italy — and they now sit in third on the standings. Norway also kept their qualification hopes alive with a 6-5 win over Estonia.
Follow the live scores from mixed doubles curling at Milano Cortina 2026 here.
Find the full mixed doubles schedule and results here.
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