The third highlight of the season is now behind us.
The Olympic Games and the subsequent Women’s World Championship were two of the four highlights of this year’s curling season. The third—the 2026 Men’s World Championship—concluded yesterday with a final showdown between the giants. On one side was the best men’s team of all time, the Swedes led by skip Niklas Edin, and on the other was the Canadian team featuring two Olympic gold medalists, the Harnden brothers, and the long-time duo of Lott and Dunston. Experience and the desire for victory prevailed. The Swedes played almost flawlessly and could rely on their skip’s precise play at crucial moments. The Canadians made a few minor mistakes. Inaccuracies, particularly those related to the need to execute millimeter-precise hit-and-rolls in response to the Swedish front end’s excellent play, meant the Scandinavians were a step closer to victory throughout the match; they entered the final end with a two-point lead and the advantage of the last stone on their side. Matt Dunstone’s final throw was nothing more than a desperate attempt to force an extra end. Missing the “feather” angle raise meant the Swedish team no longer had to worry about playing the final stone. The gold medals thus go to Niklas Edin, Oskar Eriksson, Rasmus Wranå, Christopher Sundgren, and Simon Olofsson. The Canadians (Matt Dunstone) are taking home the silver from Ogden, USA, and the Scots (Ross Whyte) secured the bronze in their match against the host Americans. The three teams that made it to the podium truly showcased the best curling for the entire nine days and had identical win-loss records after the preliminary round. The Swiss (Hösli) and U.S. (Shuster) teams also fully deserved their spots in the playoffs. This intriguing post-Olympic World Championship tested the ability of lesser-known teams to succeed against global competition. Among the six teams that advanced, only two were seasoned veterans: the Olympic gold medalists from Sweden and the USA. High-quality experience was still “enough” for gold in the men’s category this time, but new teams are emerging and bringing ever-higher quality. The Czech team (skip Klíma) finished in eleventh place after victories over Norway, Poland, and Japan. This result likely reflects the reality, i.e., the position of Czech men’s curling in the world rankings, which is currently No. 11 according to WCF tables (women No. 15, Mixed Doubles No. 13). The season will conclude at the end of April with the World Mixed Doubles Championship, in which the Czech team will compete.
photo: Stephen Fischer