BUDAPEST, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Curling at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will open with the mixed doubles event on February 4 and conclude with the women's team gold medal match on February 22, spanning nearly three weeks of competition.

All three events, men's team, women's team, and mixed doubles, will be contested at the Cortina Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, a northern Italian town in the Dolomitic Alps. The venue was originally built for the 1956 Winter Olympic Games.

The men's and women's team events will begin on Feb. 11, starting with the first men's round-robin session.

As host nation, Italy has automatically qualified for all three events. Led by reigning Olympic mixed doubles champions Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, Italy is among the favorites in that discipline.

In the men's event, reigning champion Sweden and traditional powerhouses such as Britain and Canada are expected to provide strong competition.

In the women's event, Britain topped the podium four years ago in Beijing, while Canada defended its title at the 2025 World Curling Championships. Teams from Switzerland, Sweden and South Korea are also considered major contenders, with matches often decided by the narrowest of margins.

China will field teams in both the men's and women's events. The skips, Xu Xiaoming and Wang Rui, are each bidding to make a third Olympic appearance, again putting their experience and leadership to the test at the Olympics.

Xu, 41, competed at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and later helped China finish fourth at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, the best result ever achieved by the Chinese men's curling team at the Winter Games.

At 30, Wang is widely regarded as the spiritual leader of the Chinese team. She competed in the mixed doubles event at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics and was called upon at a critical moment during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to move from third to fourth stone. ■