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Korea lose to Sweden to begin mixed doubles curling

Published: 05 Feb. 2026, 09:41 Updated: 05 Feb. 2026, 09:56

Jeong Yeong-seok, left, and Kim Seon-yeong of Korea compete against Sweden in their first round-robin match of the mixed doubles curling tournament of the 2026 Winter Olympics at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 4. [YONHAP]

Korea suffered a big loss against Sweden to begin the mixed doubles curling tournament of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday.

In Korea's first competitive action of these Winter Games, the team of Kim Seon-yeong and Jeong Yeong-seok absorbed a 10-3 loss to the Swedish sibling team of Isabella and Rasmus Wrana at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The opening ceremony of the first Winter Olympics in Italy in 20 years is Friday.

Korea held a 3-2 lead through three ends, but the Swedes moved out in front with three points in the fourth end, as Isabella executed a successful draw.

Sweden then added four more points to grab a 9-3 lead in the fifth end, when Kim failed to pull off a takeout with her final stone.

After Sweden scored another point to go up 10-3 in the sixth end, Korea conceded the match with two ends remaining.

There are 10 teams in action in the mixed doubles event, and they will play each opponent once in round-robin play. Then the top four teams will advance to the semifinals set for next Monday.

Kim Seon-yeong of Korea, left, and Isabella Wrana of Sweden play air guitar with their brooms during a stoppage of their mixed doubles curling match at the 2026 Winter Olympics at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 4. [YONHAP]

Kim and Jeong will next play the defending champions from Italy, Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, at 10:05 a.m. Thursday. The Italians went undefeated at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics for their country's first-ever Olympic curling medal and will now try to become the first repeat champions in the mixed doubles event.

Three other curling matches were played to kick off the Winter Olympics being held across northern Italy, but they were briefly interrupted by a power outage.

The lights dimmed and flickered while scoreboards also went dark in the early goings of the matches. Curlers kept sliding on the ice to stay warm, and Kim and Isabella Wrana even played some air guitar with their brooms. Fans cheered when the lights came back on after about 10 minutes.

The historic stadium was built in the 1950s and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, hockey games and figure skating events at the 1956 Winter Olympics.

Yonhap