Winter Olympics Women's Curling 2026: Full schedule for Team GB, format, rules and how to watch Scotland's Sophie Jackson go for gold
We’re well into the first week of the Games and it’s time for the women’s curling competition to get underway.
Known as ‘chess on ice’, curling is a sport that looks simple but is actually a complex tactical game.
The sport originated in Scotland during the 16th century where it was played on frozen ponds and lochs and immigrants exported the game to North America in the late 18th century – with the first Canadian club founded in Montreal in 1807.
It first became a Winter Olympic sport in Chamonix in 1924, where the UK won the men-only competition.
But it only becoming a regular Olympic sport in Nagano in 1998, and since then Scottish players representing Great Britain have excelled, winning three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze.
We’ve already had the mixed doubles curling at this year’s games, with Scotland’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds suffering heartbreak after losing their semi-final match to Sweden.
Now it’s the women’s turn to go for gold, led by Sophie Jackson.
Here’s everything you need to know about the women’s curling tournament at the Winter Olympics 2026.
When is the Women’s Curling at the Winter Olympics 2026?
The men’s curling tournament of the 2026 Winter Olympics will take place from February 12-22.
Where is the Women’s Curling at the Winter Olympics 2026 being played?
The tournament will take place in the Cortina Olympic Stadium in Cortina D’Ampezzo.
Who is representing Team GB at the Women’s Curling at the Winter Olympics?
Team GB will be captained by Sophie Jackson. She is making her Olympic debut, having previously won two bronze medals and a silver medal at the European Curling Championships and a silver in the World Junior Curling Championships. Somewhat unusually, despite being skip she plays lead for the team, delivering the first two stones in each end rather than the final two.
She will be joined by her regular team:
- Fourth: Rebecca Morrison
- Third: Jennifer Dodds
- Second: Sophie Sinclair
- Alternate: Fay Henderson
How did teams qualify for the Women’s Curling at the Winter Olympics?
The top seven nations based on combined rankings at the 2024 World Women's Curling Championship and 2025 World Women's Curling Championship qualified along with hosts Italy and two teams who qualified through the 2025 Olympic Qualification Event.
What teams have qualified for the Women’s Curling at the Winter Olympics?
Here are the 10 teams who will battle it out for the medals:
- Canada
- China
- Denmark
- Great Britain
- Italy
- Japan
- South Korea
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United States
What is the format of the Women’s Curling at the Winter Olympics 2026?
It’s a pretty simple format to find out who will win gold, silver and bronze. All the teams will play each other (so that’s nine matches in total for each team), then the top four teams in the table at the end of the round robin will go through to the semi-finals.
The two winning teams from the semi-finals go on the the gold medal game and the two losers will contest the bronze medal game.
What is Team GB’s schedule for the Women’s Curling?
Here’s when all the action will take place for Team GB:
Thursday, February 12
6.05pm: Great Britain v China
Friday, February 13
1.05am: Great Britain v South Korea
Saturday, February 14
8.05am: Great Britain v Canada
Sunday, February 15
1.05pm: Great Britain v Sweden
Monday, February 16
8.05am: Great Britain v Denmark
6.05pm: Great Britain v Switzerland
Wednesday, February 18
8.05am: Great Britain v Japan
6.05pm: Great Britain v United States
Thursday, February 19
1.05pm: Great Britain v Italy
Friday, February 20
1.05pm: Semi-finals
Saturday, February 21
1.05pm: Bronze Medal Game
Sunday, February 22
10.05am: Gold Medal Game
How can I watch the Women’s Curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics?
All the action will be available to watch on the BBC - with coverage across BBC One, BBC Two, the iPlayer and the Red Button.
What are the rules of curling?
In each end of curling each team plays a total of eight shots, with each player delivering two stones in succession, starting with the lead and ending with the skip.
At the completion of each end the number of stones closest to the ‘button’ (the bullseye) of the house will score.
The stone closest to the button effectively wins the end, with any further stones closer to the centre than the opposition’s best shot also counting – meaning it is possible, but highly unlikely, to get a maximum of eight shots in a single end (an eight-ender, which is curling’s version of golf’s hole in one).
After ten ends the team with most shots in total wins, while if the game is tied it will go to an 11th sudden death end.
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