20 March 2026
Olympic reflections inspire curlers in Calgary
In this busiest of curling seasons, the BKT World Women’s Curling Championship isn’t the first competition to take place after the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, which closed nineteen days before the worlds in Calgary got underway.
The World Juniors and wheelchair curling at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games have both been staged since the Olympic flame was extinguished, but for many, the recollections of curling in Cortina are still vivid and will linger long in the memories.
Some of the teams in Calgary also played in Cortina, and it is all too easy for them to describe how it was for them at the time.
Stefania Constantini: Cortina through a local’s eyes
So, in looking for reflections, who better to start with than home-town girl Stefania Constantini — mixed doubles bronze medallist who doubled up as skip of the Italian women’s team?
She said, “Cortina is my home — we are a small village, but we really welcomed everybody. Also, we had this big opportunity to play curling at this level at home, in front of our Italy.
“It was amazing. It was a really good memory for my result (bronze in mixed doubles), but also for the experience in general.”
Everyone who was in the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium for the competition was struck by the fantastic support generated there, as Stefania points out.
“Playing at the Olympics with the public with us was something great and it made everything so special. They were there, cheering for us and working for us at every game.”
Now, more than most in the curling community, Stefania has a concern about the future for her home town, now that the Olympic Winter Games have left.
She said, “Cortina is a tourism village so it lives thanks to tourism and now, thanks to these Olympics. We have to be ready to grab the chance now and really use this event to grow. The Olympics was a chance for Cortina to build new things and to renovate everything a little bit. It’s important to continue on this path now.”
As for herself and her future career, Stefania added, “The Olympics is now something I can bring with me into every competition. These memories are something to keep and to use at the right moment.”
Gim Eunji finds new confidence in second Olympic experience
For Korea skip Gim Eunji, Cortina was a second Olympic experience — she played at the Sochi Games in 2014 — and she is clear that it was much better second time around.
“For my first Olympics in Sochi, we didn’t have that much experience or knowledge. Now, through the world championships we’ve been able to get that experience — for example packed grandstands, and just watching everything as well — it was definitely better.”
The Koreans finished fifth in Cortina, but they also enjoyed their experience off the ice as well.
“It was simply a beautiful village, everywhere you looked out the window, there was beautiful scenery, so it was a good environment for curling.”
She added, “Everywhere we went, we were asked for autographs and photographs, we definitely felt welcome and also, everyone was very kind.”
Eunji made another important observation about curling support from the public at the Olympic Games.
“There were lots of people cheering for us back home, so we definitely feel that world championships and Olympics are very different.”
Olympic veteran Madeleine Dupont sees curling’s presence strengthen
Denmark skip Madeleine Dupont is one of curling’s most experienced Olympians. She finished fifth at the Vancouver Games in 2010 in the first of her four Olympic appearances, and she is pleased to see curling’s development within the Olympic movement.
She said, “Cortina was very nice. I especially liked the arena there. That feeling of being in a really old historic place, where so many games have happened. The atmosphere was nice and the crowd was cool.”
“It was overall a really nice experience. When we were in Beijing, you couldn’t walk around, so I forgot that when you’re at a regular Olympics you can just walk out of the village and you’re right there. That was strange because it’s been eight years since we could do that. You could just take a walk and feel the atmosphere. I really missed that and it was very nice.”
And Madeleine is in a good position to gauge the impact of Olympic curling, as she explained, “I work in TV so I check the numbers — the ratings for curling were up. The biggest TV shows in Denmark have 1.5 million viewers, and many curling games were half a million, which is amazing — it’s very big.”
She also makes a point about visibility of this world championship. “I have never had so many people ask me or text me where they can watch this event (worlds). ‘Why can’t we watch curling anymore? It’s so fun, and it’s so cool, why can’t we watch it?’”
Madeleine also sees a growth in curling’s Olympic stature over the years. “It feels like curling has a bigger place at the Olympic now. It’s gotten more athletic and people think it’s a real sport now. With so many TV hours, so it feels like it takes up as lot of space”.
And as evidence, she turns to her own experience, “When you tell people in the Village that you’re a curler, they say — ‘how fun is that?’.”
It is clear that, world-wide, Olympic curling has been a major hit — thanks to the entertainment, fascination and admiration that the curlers themselves have generated.
The challenge for the sport now is how to capitalise on this and ensure the hype continues.
All World Women’s games will be broadcast on the Curling Channel, however, there may be restrictions due to broadcast partner agreements.
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