OLYMPICS: Curling-Britain defeat rivals Norway as mixed doubles launches Games

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy – Britain claimed an early victory over Norway in the mixed doubles curling tournament at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, winning 8-6 in a clash between two medal contenders on Wednesday.

Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, 2021 world champions, were down 1-0 after the first end but scored three with the hammer in the second to take the lead. Norway’s two-time Olympic medallists Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten equalized at 4-4, but another three points in the sixth end secured the win for Britain.

“I think it’s massive. You always want to start with a really tough opponent to hit the ground running and start how you want to continue,” Dodds said. “We definitely played well, but there’s still elements we can improve on. We know what that is, and we’ll come out again tomorrow to sharpen those up.”

The mixed doubles curling tournament features nine preliminary rounds, with the top four pairs advancing to the semifinals.

The game was briefly interrupted by technical issues at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium when the lights cut out and the scoreboards went blank in the first end.

“I forgot about it until someone mentioned it, but we were so focused on the game,” Mouat said. “These things happen, it’s happened in world competitions before, so it’s nothing new to us.”

Other early winners included Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman, who led throughout to defeat Czech pair Julie Zelingrova and Vit Chabicovsky 10-5. Sweden’s sibling duo Isabella and Rasmus Wranaa beat South Korea’s Jeong Yeong-seok and Kim Seon-yeong 10-3 after six ends.

Estonia, making its Olympic curling debut, fell 9-7 to Switzerland’s Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann and Yannick Schwaller despite strong support from cheering fans.

Hosts and defending champions Italy will be in action on Thursday, with 10 games scheduled across three sessions.

-Reporting by Aadi Nair; Editing by Ken Ferris/Reuters