Who’s securing their Olympic ticket this week? ✅

Curling at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will comprise three competitions with ten National Olympic Committees in each – women’s, men’s and mixed doubles.

All three curling competitions will be played in the Cortina Olympic Stadium in Cortina D’Ampezzo, a northern Italian town in the Dolomitic Alps.

Italy qualify, for each competition, automatically as the host. If the host country declines its host country place in any event, its place will be reallocated to the next highest ranked eligible —and not already qualified— National Olympic Committee from the Olympic Qualification Event. This process will be repeated until the quota place is filled.

The eight highest ranked National Olympic Committees from a list generated by Olympic Qualification Points earned at the 2024 and 2025 women’s, men’s and mixed doubles world championships will qualify for the Olympic Winter Games. In case hosts of the Olympic Winter Games, Italy, does not finish in the top eight places of the respective discipline, only the seven highest ranked National Olympic Committees will qualify for the Olympic Winter Games through this path.

The Olympic Qualification Points will be awarded according to The Rules of Curling, specifically Rules of Competition, C9. Team Ranking Procedure / Draw Shot Challenge.

Points allocation

Each season points are allocated to the Member Associations ranked from 1-13, in each women’s and men’s world championship, in the following order: 15, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

For the mixed doubles, teams are ranked 1-20, therefore, the points allocation is as follows: 27, 23, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Olympic Qualification Event

The final two places in each event are decided at the Olympic Qualification Event (OQE), to be held in December 2025. Eligibility to take part in the OQE is detailed below.

Women’s and men’s competition

The National Olympic Committees ranked 9-13 from the ranking list created from the results at the 2024 and 2025 world championships.

The top three National Olympic Committees from the Pre-Qualification Event to be held in the autumn of 2025.

Mixed doubles competition

Any National Olympic Committee’s mixed doubles team that qualified for the 2024 and 2025 world championship, but did not yet qualify for the Olympic Winter Games through points earned at these championships or by hosting the Olympic Winter Games.

If this results in fewer than 16 teams, then the next highest ranked National Olympic Committee from the ranking list (as of 1 May 2025) will be invited until all 16 places are filled at the OQE.

Pre-Qualification Event

In the women’s and men’s field any National Olympic Committee is eligible to enter this event that qualified for the 2024 or 2025 world championship, but didn’t qualify for the Olympic Winter Games or the OQE. There is no Pre-Qualification Event for mixed doubles curling.

Also, any National Olympic Committee that qualified for the A-Division of the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2024 or 2025 or the A-Division of the Pan Continental Curling Championships 2024 or 2025, but haven’t qualified for the Olympic Winter Games or the OQE yet.

The top three National Olympic Committees will qualify from the Pre-Qualification Event for the OQE.

The full Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 qualification procedure is available here.

WOMEN

 Rank National Olympic Committee20242025Olympic Qualification Points
Q1Italy **104 14 – Qualified as hosts
Q2Canada151530
Q3Switzerland131326
Q4Republic of Korea111021
Q5Sweden9918
Q6Denmark8715
Q7Great Britain (Scotland)*6814
Q8People’s Republic of China01111
9Norway5611
10United States of America729
11Japan358
12Türkiye437
13Estonia202
14Lithuania011
15New Zealand101

* Points for Great Britain are gained by Scotland at World Women’s Curling Championships.
** Italy as the host of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games are guaranteed qualification.
Q = Qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games

MEN

 Rank  National Olympic Committee20242025Olympic Qualification Points
Q1Italy **11 415 – Qualified as hosts 
Q2Great Britain (Scotland)*101525 
Q3Canada131124 
Q4Sweden15924
Q5Switzerland71320
Q6Germany9615
Q7Norway4812
Q8Czechia5712
9United States of America8311
10People’s Republic of China01010
11Japan358
12Netherlands606
13Republic of Korea213
14Austria022
15New Zealand101

* Points for Great Britain are gained by Scotland at World Women’s Curling Championships.
** Italy as the host of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games are guaranteed qualification.
Q = Qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games

MIXED DOUBLES

 Rank National Olympic Committee20242025Olympic Qualification Points
Q1Italy **1313 – Qualified as hosts 
2Sweden2727
3Estonia2323
4Norway2020
5Switzerland1818
6Canada1616
7Great Britain (Scotland)*1515
8Republic of Korea1414
9Japan1212
10United States of America1111
11Germany1010
12People’s Republic of China99
13Netherlands88
14Denmark77
15Australia66
16Czechia55
17Türkiye44
18France33
19New Zealand22
20Spain11

* Points for Great Britain are gained by Scotland at World Women’s Curling Championships.
** Italy as the host of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games are guaranteed qualification.
Q = Qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *