7 March 2026
Sweden open wheelchair team event at Milano Cortina 2026 with two wins
On Saturday, the wheelchair mixed teams took to the ice for their first two round-robin sessions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.
Paralympic silver medallists from 2022, Sweden had a strong start to their campaign when they played Norway in the morning. The Swedes were leading 5-1 at half time and eventually ran Norway out of stones in the eighth end for the 6-2 win.
Afterwards, Sweden lead, an all-smiles Kristina Ulander said, “It feels great! It was our first game and we played very well. We started the tournament exactly how we wanted.”
Talking about their overall expectations, she added, “All of us want to play great all week, and we hope that we can go to the semi-finals. That’s our first goal. I hope everyone on the team will have a great week!”
In the evening session, Sweden were taken all the way to an extra end by Republic of Korea. The teams were tied at 6-6 after eight ends, then in the extra, Sweden used their last stone advantage to play a raise take-out to score two points and claim their second win of the day.
Earlier in the day, 2025 world silver medallists Republic of Korea met Latvia. The Koreans had a flying start to the game, scoring five in the opening end. They never looked back from there, and were leading 7-1 at half time. Latvia conceded the game after six ends with a 10-2 final result.
After the game, fourth player Yang Hui Tae said, “It was a difficult game, but I’m very happy that we won. Personally, I had a very good game that I’m also happy about.”
The Latvians bounced back from their morning defeat with a dominant win over Slovakia. Latvia controlled the game from the first end, stealing all nine points on their way to a 9-0 win after six ends.
In the morning session, Slovakia put on a strong performance in against Great Britain. The first half of the game was tight, with a 3-2 Slovak lead at half time. The turning point came in the fifth end, when the Brits missed a few take-outs and Slovakia stole four. Slovakia never looked back from there and won, 9-2, in seven ends.
Reigning Paralympic champions, People’s Republic of China played United States of America in the morning. Team China scored fours in the second and fourth ends on the way to their 12-7 victory.
Both United States and Great Britain attempted to bounce back from their morning losses when they played each other in the evening. The game went all the way to an extra end with both teams tied 5-5 after eight ends.
In the extra end, Great Britain’s skip Hugh Nibloe played a draw to the button with his final stone, scoring one point and securing the 6-5 win.
Back-to-back Paralympic bronze medallists from 2018 and 2022, Canada took on hosts Italy in the evening, which was the first game of the week for both teams. Canada jumped out to an early lead with a score of four points in the first end on their way to a 9-2 lead at the break.
The second half saw hosts Italy fight back, scoring two in the fifth, then stealing three points over the next two ends. Then in the eighth end, while facing two Italian shot stones, Canada skip Mark Ideson played a heavy draw, leaving his shooter on the edge of the eight-foot. After an umpire’s measure it was determined that Italy had only stolen a single point, giving Canada the 9-8 victory.
Afterwards, Canada’s third player Jon Thurston said, “Big win. Always nice to get the first W and get it in the first game, get that under your belt. It was a fun game. That was an amazing atmosphere right there. Italian crowd was there and it was cool to have all the Canadian fans in there too cheering us on. But yeah, strong first half. Like, I loved that first half, so we’ll take that any day. Italy made a lot of shots in the second half, and so we’ll look at some game tapes, see what the coaches say, and look to just continue to learn and get better as the week goes on.”
On Sunday, wheelchair curling action continues with two mixed team sessions and one mixed doubles draw.
Follow the live scores from the wheelchair mixed teams at Milano Cortina 2026 here.
Follow the live scores from the wheelchair mixed doubles at Milano Cortina 2026 here.
Find the full wheelchair curling schedule and results here.
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