The analysis can wait, now let's be happy.
We have already gotten used to the idea that in February 2026 we will see Czech men curling under the Olympic rings fighting with the best teams in the world. Now we have to quickly get used to the next parade. The Czech mixed doubles team of Julie Zelingrova/Vít Chabičovský dominated the Olympic Qualification Tournament, which was played for no less than the two remaining spots in the upcoming Winter Olympics, and succeeded, placing first. Another historic milestone for Czech curling? Undoubtedly. We have two national teams out of a possible three at the Olympics. Today, we already know that Czech viewers will see curling on their screens just two days before the official opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics on 4 February. Specifically, it will be from 19.05 and it will be the Czech pair against the Canadians. This will be followed by eight more matches in the regular group and then a possible extra time for the Olympic medals. To make all this possible, Julie and Vítek had a big challenge to overcome. To place in second place among sixteen candidates for tickets to Cortina d'Ampezzo, ready to play the best matches of their lives and turn their Olympic dream into reality. Qualifying tournaments are tricky competitions, especially when the construction is as strict as it was this time. The necessity was to finish second in the group, and then go through the pitfalls of the page playoffs. After the Czech team's loss to Japan, it became more and more clear that the final match against Korea would be the one to decide who would qualify for the playoffs. Julie and Vitek did a great job and thanks to the win they moved up to the first place. The first of the matches for "Cortina" was extremely balanced in all aspects and the last stone was decisive, which was not technically among the most difficult, but mentally it was from the category of the most difficult. Julie Zelinger, despite her nineteen years, behaved like an experienced, seasoned matador and fulfilled her role to the letter. Full respect is, of course, also due to Vít Chabičovský (stones number 2, 3 and 4), who at many moments played exceptional stones that turned the situation in our favour, and who was a careful and effective thrower of most of the stones played. Congratulations are also due to the implementation team, Vladimir Chernovsky and Wade Scoffin. In less than seven weeks it will be off and we will all be cheering and hoping for the best possible result. It's been a busy time for curling in general. In the meantime, the Czech juniors played the World Junior Championships - B (tenth place overall) and the Czech men scored a valuable win over Team Koe (twice World Champion) at GSOC. But also thanks to the involvement of Czech Television, which aired most of the Czech mixed doubles team's decisive match on CT Sport, the success of the new Czech curling stars Julia Zelingrova and Vit Chabičovský was an absolute highlight.