Winter Olympics 2026: UK Curlers Face Early Exit After Canada Loss
The British curling team, led by skip Bruce Mouat, is on the brink of an early exit from the 2026 Winter Olympics after a disappointing loss to Canada. Despite their strong record against the Canadian team, including a victory in the last four of the World Championships last spring, the British squad couldn't capitalize on their early lead and ultimately fell short.
The Canadians, aware of their potential, started strongly and built a 3-1 lead after three ends. However, the British team, considered the world's best, demonstrated their resilience and turned the tide. They took advantage of a slight drop-off by their opponents, scoring two in the fourth and another two in the sixth to take the lead with four ends remaining.
Unfortunately, the British team's fortunes took a turn in the seventh end. An unfortunate bounce left Canada with the opportunity to score three, which they gladly accepted. Mouat and his team needed to respond, but they couldn't. Instead, they gave up a steal, resulting in a three-point deficit with just two ends left to play.
This deficit proved insurmountable, and the British team's aspirations of upgrading their silver medal from Beijing are now out of their hands. The men's team's early exit is a stark contrast to the women's team, who are also in a perilous position. They must beat the United States, Japan, and Italy in their upcoming matches to have any chance of reaching the last four.
In other Olympic news, Team GB's two-man bobsleigh team finished 12th after brakeman Taylor Lawrence withdrew from the final two runs and was replaced by Leon Greenwood. The team's combined overall time of 3:43:43 was a disappointment, especially for pilot Brad Hall, GB's most decorated men's bobsleigh pilot in World Cup history with 30 race medals.
'It wasn't plan A, but with Leon [Greenwood] coming in at the last minute, we wanted to keep Taylor [Lawrence] safe, ready for the four-man,' Hall told BBC Sport. 'We knew we were out of contention for the two-man, so we just used it as extra training runs for the four-man.'
The four-man event begins on Saturday, with the medal-deciding runs on Sunday, and the Germans are expected to dominate the podium once again, with Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer favored for gold, and Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuller in the running for silver.
