Curling and Geneva — a real celebration

It’s not every opening ceremony that you see a live eagle dramatically swooping down to the field of play, but that’s how they do it in Geneva.

As he spoke at the opening ceremony of the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and World Senior Curling Championships 2026, Stewart Dryburgh, chair of the local organising committee, explained that Geneva is an unconventional place — “more than a pretty city by the lake”.

So, with the eagle being an emblem of the city, why not have a live one involved?

The eagle flies during the ceremony © World Curling / James Roberts

So much to celebrate

Stewart explained that the theme of these championships was “celebration”: celebrating all the elements that bring these championships — and the sport of curling – together. He wanted to celebrate sponsors, volunteers, officials, the city itself, but mostly the athletes of the 36 nations involved in the event, who he calls “the stars of our show”.

Flags of participating countries © World Curling / James Roberts

And Stewart highlighted a few of the athletes’ stories to celebrate, including the first-ever curling Olympic appearance by Estonia’s mixed doubles pairing of Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill, and the Olympic medal exploits of defending mixed doubles world champions Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner.

Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner take a selfie during the ceremony © World Curling / James Roberts

Together for the last time

Another aspect to celebrate was the fact that, due to changes in the international calendar, this would be the last time that the Seniors and Mixed Doubles Championships would be held together — a last chance to celebrate the juxta-positioning of modern-day elite athletes with the experience, knowledge, fellowship and sheer sense of enjoyment and fun of their seniors.

Senior teams at the opening ceremony © World Curling / James Roberts

That’s why the opening ceremony saw two opening stones delivered, rather than just the normal one. They were thrown by double Olympic champion Anette Norberg of Sweden, and by current Olympic bronze medallist and Swiss local Benoit Schwarz-van Berkel, supported by some other star-studded players — Canada’s Wayne Middaugh, Scotland’s Mairi Milne, Australia’s Hugh Millikin, and France’s Stephanie Barbarin.

The two ceremonial opening stones are thrown © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

The perfect place for a celebration

World Curling Board Director Rob Niven officially declared the competitions open for play and in doing so, described Geneva as “the perfect setting for our sport” and highlighted its “multi-generational inclusiveness”. He also said, “curling is more than competitions — it’s a community and a family. Thank you to Geneva for making this celebration possible”.

Sounds like this week is going to see celebrations all round!