The United States men's curling team began its 2026 Winter Olympics campaign with an 8-7 victory over Czechia on Wednesday, thanks to a clutch final shot by skip Daniel Casper. In other opening matches, Canada edged Germany 7-6 in an extra end, while Great Britain defeated China 9-4 and Italy beat Sweden 7-6. These results set the stage for the round-robin competition at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
The men's curling competition at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off on February 11, 2026, with four tight contests at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. Team USA, featuring skip Daniel Casper of Minneapolis, Minnesota, alongside Aidan Oldenburg of Mapleton, Minnesota, Ben Richardson of Issaquah, Washington, and Luc Violette of Edmonds, Washington, trailed 4-2 entering the sixth end against Czechia. They equalized with the hammer and secured a decisive three points in the eighth end before Casper's "promotion takeout" in the tenth end clinched the 8-7 win.
Canada, led by skip Brad Jacobs in his first Olympics since the 2014 Sochi gold, faced a stern test from Germany. The match went to an extra end after Germany tied it at 6-6 in the tenth. Jacobs delivered a nose hit for the winning point, shooting at 93 percent efficiency. "To get it done in 11 ends is good for us," Jacobs said. Teammate Ben Hebert added, "We'll have to crank it up a little bit more but the good news is our skip was money."
Great Britain's Bruce Mouat, recovering from a mixed doubles bronze-medal loss, guided his team to a 9-4 victory over China, building a lead with a three-point third end and a double takeout in the seventh. Host nation Italy thrilled the home crowd with a 7-6 upset over defending champions Sweden.
Canada aims to end a 12-year Olympic men's gold drought, with the world catching up to its dominance, as noted by Marc Kennedy: "People need to understand how difficult international curling is these days." The U.S. faces Switzerland next, while the women's event begins Thursday.
