CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — The 2026 Winter Olympics opened competition Wednesday night with the first curling matches on the schedule in Cortina only for the action to come to a brief halt because of a power outage.
Officials paused the matches at the historic curling stadium when the lights dimmed and flickered and the main lights and heat in a nearby media center went out. Curlers kept sliding on the ice to stay ready and fans cheered when the bright lights came back soon after and play resumed.
Olympic organizers acknowledged the “brief interruption to competition due to an energy-related issue” and noted it lasted approximately three minutes. It snowed steadily all day in Cortina, with more than 8 inches (20.32 centimeters) in some places. The start of the opening luge training session for men’s singles was also delayed a half-hour due to the outage.
The eight teams playing mixed doubles opened the long curling tournament two full days before the opening ceremony for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. American curler Korey Dropkin said he has been waiting a long time for this moment.
“Being amongst the best, it’s a very cool atmosphere to be part of,” said Dropkin, a first-time Olympian who will begin competition Thursday. “We’re looking forward to being ready to compete and pour our hearts out on the ice.”
Opening night in this mountain resort was just the first of the round robin matches in mixed doubles curling, where teams with one woman and one man face off against one another.
Cortina, which is 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Milan in these far-flung Olympics, is seeing more fans and many were in the curling center. They clapped, rang bells and chanted for their countries and favorite curlers when their teams scored or there was a break in the action. Some in the crowd held large flags for the Czech Republic, whose team was competing against Canada. Canadian fans wearing red waved handheld flags.
Bernard Benoit traveled from Ontario, Canada, to root for his home team before going on to meet his daughter in Milan. While he's a longtime curling fan, it's his first time at the Olympics. He said he came a long way to see the best in the world because he loves how curling is a “mix of athleticism and intellect” and a strategy game.
Benoit is cheering for Canadian couple Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, who are competing in mixed doubles. Three of the teams are married couples and one is a sibling team. Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill are the first ever to compete for Estonia in curling.
Italian duo Stefania Constantini, who is from Cortina, and Amos Mosaner are the defending world and Olympic champions in mixed doubles.
Stephanie Kahn is a volunteer at the curling center, who is eager to learn what curling is all about and how hard it is. Kahn is from the United States and moved to Spain when she retired. She aspired to compete in swimming in the Olympics when she was younger.
“That, for me, is what makes it so special. Being an athlete and knowing that to be at the top, top of your sport, regardless of what that sport is, it’s just such a commitment,” she said. “So I’m just excited to be in the presence of these athletes.”
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AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf in Cortina and AP writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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