Canada’s curling teams endure a tough day at 2026 Olympic Games

CORTINA d’AMPEZZO, Italy — It wasn’t Canada’s day on Saturday at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The national men’s and women’s teams were defeated in all three games at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.

Canada’s Team Rachel Homan of Ottawa was handed its second and third losses of the week.

In a rematch of the past two world championship finals, skip Homan, vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes, alternate Rachelle Brown, team coach Heather Nedohin, and national coach Viktor Kjell faced Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni (3-1).

Switzerland edged Canada 8-7 in an extra end.

Canada marched to an early lead by scoring one in the first end and forcing the Swiss into difficult positions in the second and third. Fourth Alina Paetz missed angle-raises in both ends to give up steals of one and two, respectively.

However, the Swiss battled back, capitalizing with a four-ender in the seventh and sealed the deal in the 11^th with a draw to the button.

Earlier in the day, Canada lost a close 7-6 game to Team Sophie Jackson of Great Britain (1-2). Canada allowed a three-ender in the third, followed by a steal of one in the fourth to fall behind early.

It was a tough day for sure. I felt this morning our play wasn’t that great. I thought we debriefed really well and everything that happened from this game today – we did so many good things – there were many good things to carry forward,” coach Kjell said.

Miskew also felt positive about how the team played throughout the day.

“I think we’re struggling a little bit with lines. We’re throwing a lot of rocks and just missing, and that’s part of curling. I think that we’ll be able to figure it out exactly if there are any trends we can find, but for the most part, the game was close,” Miskew said following the game aginst Great Britain.

The women will regroup on Sunday with a day off. Team Homan is back on the ice against China’s Team Rui Wang (2-1) on Monday at 3:05 a.m. (all times Eastern).

In men’s action, Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs (3-1) dropped its first game of the event in a 9-5 loss to Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller (4-0).

Jacobs, vice-skip Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, lead Ben Hebert, alternate Tyler Tardi, team coach Paul Webster, and national coach Jeff Stoughton threw all they could at their opponents, but the Swiss team – led by fourth Benoit Schwarz throwing final rocks – overcame the challenge.

“They got an early lead, Benoit made everything. I actually felt like we made quite a few shots, just not enough,” Kennedy said. “But we struggled a little bit with the ice today You know, but like Brad says losses happen for you not to you. So, we’ll learn from some tactics and some ice conditions and try to come out and have a better game tomorrow night.”

The men are back on the ice with one game on Sunday against China’s Team Xiaoming Xu (0-4) at 1:05 p.m.

For live scoring, team lineups, and standings for the Olympic curling competitions, click here.

All of Canada’s Games will be broadcast on a variety of platforms by CBC, the official Olympic rights-holder in Canada. Click here for the CBC broadcast schedule.