Canada reclaimed the Olympic men's curling gold medal with a 9-6 victory over Great Britain in the final at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Skipped by Brad Jacobs, the Canadian team overcame early challenges and a strong performance from Bruce Mouat's British rink to secure their first title since 2014. Great Britain settled for a second consecutive silver medal, extending their wait for a men's curling gold since 1924.
The men's curling gold medal match on February 21, 2026, pitted world No. 1 Great Britain against Canada in a tense battle at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. Great Britain's team, consisting of skip Bruce Mouat, third Grant Hardie, second Bobby Lammie, lead Hammy McMillan, and alternate Kyle Waddell, entered as favorites after dominating recent world championships, including titles in 2023 and 2025. They had avenged their 2022 Olympic final loss to Sweden by securing silver in Beijing and aimed to end a 102-year drought for gold.
Canada's squad, led by skip Brad Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, lead Ben Hebert, and alternate Tyler Tardi, faced early tournament drama. During round-robin play, Sweden's Oskar Eriksson accused Kennedy of double-touching stones—a violation where a player touches the stone after release but before the hog line—sparking a heated exchange with expletives. World Curling investigated, issued warnings, and briefly altered umpiring protocols, stationing officials at hog lines, but reverted after no violations were recorded. Similar accusations arose against Great Britain's Lammie in a match versus Germany, but the British won 9-4 despite a stone removal.
The final began with Canada holding the hammer in the first end, scoring one point for a 1-0 lead. Great Britain responded with two in the second to lead 2-1. Canada tied it at 3-3 by the third end with a double. The game remained close through the halfway mark, tied at 3-3. Mouat's precise double takeout in the sixth end gave Great Britain a 5-4 advantage. Single points followed in the seventh and eighth, putting Great Britain ahead 6-5 entering the ninth.
With the hammer, Canada capitalized on Great Britain's misses in the ninth, scoring three points via Jacobs' chip-out to lead 8-6. In the tenth, Mouat needed a double to force an extra end but hit straight, allowing Canada to steal one for the 9-6 win. Shooting percentages were high: Canada at 87%, Great Britain at 86%.
Post-match, an emotional Mouat said, "I'm a bit in shock. We felt like we were the better team." Hardie added, "The pain from four years ago was so much... We wanted to win it for each other." Jacobs reflected, "We had to weather the storm early... Things turned our way." Kennedy noted the controversy motivated them: "A weaker team would have fallen flat... We rose above it."
This marks Canada's fifth men's Olympic curling gold and 14th medal overall in the sport. Great Britain, with three silvers now (2014, 2022, 2026), looks to Mouat's return in 2030.
