The Olympic curling tournament is reaching its business end as world champions Great Britain face an early exit from the competition.
A battling clash with Canada saw Bruce Mouat’s rink continue to underperform and they slipped to a 9-5 defeat in their penultimate match of the round robin stage.
That loss follows a shock defeat to Norway on Monday leaves them in a horrendous position, with just one round robin game to play and several teams in contention for a top-four spot.
Italy’s victory over the United States puts them in a tie for third place - with Norway - and forces GB into fifth with Canada and Switzerland also currently in the top four.
All four of the top teams also have a game in hand on Great Britain though Italy and Norway are both yet to play Switzerland and Canada.
That means Team GB might yet go through but they need other results to go their way and must defeat the United States on Wednesday to have any hopes of playing for an Olympic medal.
Follow all the action with The Independent’s live blog below:
Read MoreWinter Olympics 2026: Today’s events and timings plus schedule in full
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The ‘cheating’ accusations, secret filming, and curling scandal engulfing the Winter Olympics
Winter Olympics live
- GB curlers slump to defeat against Canada to leave semi-final qualification on a knife edge
- Stakes high as teams jostle for top four positions
- Canadian team hit by cheating allegations as curling row hots up
- USA beaten by Italy meaning the hosts move up to third in table
GB curlers slump to defeat against Canada to leave semi-final qualification on a knife edge
20:46 , Flo CliffordThe polite and chivalrous world of curling was dragged through the mud this week, rocked by a cheating scandal and cries of foul play. Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canada’s Marc Kennedy of cheating; the latter was so incensed by the accusation that he went on an expletive-laden rant in his opponent’s face, only for videos to emerge supporting the Swede entirely.
World Curling eventually stepped in, attempting to calm the controversy with additional umpiring measures, which caught out Canada’s women’s team and Britain’s men, before backing off again, returning to the status quo of players largely self-refereeing.
GB curlers slump to Canada defeat to leave semi-final qualification on a knife edge
How can Team GB reach the semi finals?
20:53 , Mike JonesTeam GB’s hopes of making it into the top four hang by a thread and they need a lot of help.
First, they must defeat the United States in their final round robin match tomorrow. If they don’t they’re out without playing a medal match.
Then they need to hope that Switzerland and Canada each win both of their remaining two games with those two sides taking on both Italy and Norway across Wednesday and Thursday.
That would mean that Britain can jump above the Italians and the Norwegians into the top four.
It’s a lot to ask for both of their closest rivals to each lose their final two matches in the round robin stage but crazier things have happened.
Great Britain beaten 9-5 by Canada!
20:35 , Mike JonesAnd that’s that!
Team GB shake hands as they trail by four points with one end to go.
It’s another defeat and their semi-final place is looking very far away now.
Great Britain 5-9 Canada
20:34 , Mike JonesA decent effort for Mouat to freeze a yellow on top of the left sitting red.
Jacobs aims for the front red and wants to take out the middle yellow.
He releases the stone with some force and is successful in the aim.
Canada lie two and Mouat has another tasking shot to score more than one.
His only option is to try a takeout on the front red. He’s off target and ends up giving up anothe point!
Great Britain 5-8 Canada
20:30 , Mike JonesGB are trying to protect the two yellows.
Hardie looks to sit his final stone on top of the other two but it’s slightly too hard.
The nudge opens up a chance for Canada to take out all three yellows!
‘Give it a bomb on the nose!’ is the call to Brad Jacobs.
He obliges!
One, maybe two, yellows fly out of the ring but there are too many reds for Mouat to handle.
‘We’re only getting two max’ is the assessment from Mouat.
Great Britain 5-8 Canada
20:26 , Mike JonesKennedy’s second stone is a takeout aimed at the front yellow. He’s hoping to displace two yellows but jams the connected one into the other two.
Two yellows remain in the house.
Britain take a timeout to discuss how to play this with the coach...
Great Britain 5-8 Canada
20:23 , Mike JonesGB start off by putting in the guards on the centre as Canada send stones into the house.
Lammie curls his first stone onto the clustered reds and nudges them apart.
Now is the time to put stones into the house. Lammie comes again and draws in from the left. He’s a little too long but manages to leave a yellow in amongst it.
Canada try to take out the final guard and displace a second yellow as well.
No! Kennedy just takes out the guard.
Great Britain 5-8 Canada
20:17 , Mike JonesThis is grave for Team GB.
They are hanging on to their hopes of reaching the semi-finals but are facing a fourth defeat of the round robin stage here.
What can they muster of the final two ends?
Great Britain 5-8 Canada
20:15 , Mike JonesCanada have forced Mouat’s hand and he’ll need to draw into the green area to take one.
He doesn’t do that!
He tries to play off the right side red and spin into the middle but he hits it on the nose.
Worse still, Canada are closer to the middle meaning they score one and increase their lead!
Great Britain 5-7 Canada
20:12 , Mike JonesGreat Britain need to blank or score two from this end.
It looks highly unlikely at this stage.
They’re discussing freezing on top of the right side red or possibly drawing in behind the middle red to leave a testing final shot for Jacobs.
Mouat decides with the second option and gets it all wrong. He ends up too short and Canada have the chance to lie four up with one stone left.
Great Britain 5-7 Canada
20:08 , Mike JonesHardie takes on the shot that Lammie just messed up.
It’s a decent effort but there’s enough wiggle room for Canada to power it out of the house.
They may disrupt their own stones though.
Kennedy is told to catch the yellow on the left side, he likes his stone and smokes it out of the house. With it go two reds which could have been used as backing for future shots.
Advantage Canada.
Great Britain 5-7 Canada
20:06 , Mike JonesBritain have their backs to the wall in this end with Canada sitting four up inside the house.
Lammie decides to draw in from the left and sit his yellow on top of the reds.
It’s all wrong and finishes up short of the rings leaving his teammates with work to do.
The wheels feel very loose on this Team GB train.
Great Britain 5-7 Canada
20:01 , Mike JonesThe goods news for Team GB is that they have two ends with the hammer.
They’ll need to score two points in each end in order to overturn this gap though.
Canada flood the house with Britain setting up corner guards.
Great Britain 5-7 Canada
19:59 , Mike JonesDisaster for Team GB!
An accumulation of errors leaves Mouat needing to take out three stones with his final shot and he can only manage one.
That leaves Canada sitting two up and, as they have the hammer, Jacobs curls the last stone in for three.
It’s the highest score of any end and with three ends to go Canada regain the lead.
Great Britain 5-4 Canada
19:52 , Mike JonesGreat Britain’s task in this end (seventh) is to limit Canada to only one point.
Britain are on course to have the hammer in the final end and with their one point advantage they won’t want to relinquish it.
Both teams cluster the house with stones.
Great Britain 5-4 Canada
19:43 , Mike JonesA simple fade in from Mouat and the final stone lands in the centre circle for GB to take two points!
They move ahead of the first time in the match.
Four ends to go.
Great Britain 3-4 Canada
19:42 , Mike JonesCanada sit three up but all of them are in the middle hanging into the white zone at the back of the house.
Bruce Mouat will draw this next stone into the house and leave it just in front of these three making it tough for Jacobs to remove the yellow with his final stone.
GB are going for two points here.
Mouat places it superbly and he leaves Jacobs with one option of freezing on top of Mouat’s stone to try and avoid losing two points.
It looks good... but it’s too wide!
Chance for Mouat here!
Great Britain 3-4 Canada
19:38 , Mike JonesOh! A great attempt to remove both yellows from Kennedy ends with the wide yellow slightly in play on the right side.
Canada lie three up and Hardie needs to change that.
It’s a nice effort to knock one out of play but he doesn’t manage to leave his own yellow in the rings and hands the advantage back to Canada.
Great Britain 3-4 Canada
19:36 , Mike JonesKennedy is next up and is told to take out the British yellow on the left side of the house.
It’s a good shot and takes out that yellow, spins across the circle and nudges the other yellow free of the existing red as well.
Plenty of work for Hardie to do in response.
He takes out one of the reds but leaves a decent chance for Kennedy to leave three reds in the house.
Great Britain 3-4 Canada
19:34 , Mike JonesJacobs doesn’t like having British stones in the house.
Lammie had previously played a nice shot to move the Canadian guard away and leave his stone in the outer ring.
Canada sit two up and Lammie responds with an in curling that takes one of the reds out and freezes his own onto the top of the other red.
Great shot!
Great Britain 3-4 Canada
19:31 , Mike JonesThere’s very little in this match and both teams will try to score big when they have the hammer.
They start off with a few guards on the edge of the house before Canada drift into the green section in behind their own centre guard.
McMillan curls out and looks to put up another guard on the right side this time.
Great Britain 3-4 Canada
19:24 , Mike JonesKennedy almost makes up for his previous error by smoking his previous stone and nudging a yellow out of the house.
Britain still lie three up with two stones each to go.
Bruce Mouat decides to move the red out of the rings and now GB have four in play.
At the least, GB will want to limit Canada to one point.
Brad Jacobs will have the final stone of the end so will look to take out the yellow closest to the middle which he achieves without issue.
Mouat’s final stone will be to nudge out the stone just sent down by Jacobs and he does.
Canada draw into the middle for a simple point.
Canada lead at the halfway point.
Great Britain 3-3 Canada
19:18 , Mike JonesGrant Hardie is having a superb game. Often he’s been tasked with taking out sitting Canadian stones and so far he’s been brilliantly accurate.
There’s a red in the house and Kennedy is tasked with knocking it and his own stone closer to the middle.
It’s a shocker! He only manages to take the red out of play.
Can GB take advantage from here. They’re sitting three up for now!
Great Britain 3-3 Canada
19:13 , Mike JonesInto the fifth end, this match reaches the halfway point after it, and Canada have the hammer again.
The match sits all square so the early work from the Canadians has been overturned. That gives GB a bit of momentum.
They start off by setting up a couple of guards with Canada attempting to tuck into the house behind the centre one.
Great Britain 3-3 Canada
19:09 , Mike JonesSo close! Jacobs takes out one of the yellows but his own red is pushed slightly too far out.
It looks like the yellow of GB is sitting so Mouat only needs to curl one into the centre for two points.
The line is good from Mouat, he beats the guards for a certain one and there’s going to be a measurement to determine who is second closest.
Marc Kennedy is the one to call for the measure. He’s disappointed. Britain score two!
Great Britain 1-3 Canada
19:05 , Mike JonesA slight error from Brad Jacobs gives Bruce Mouat the chance to push the sitting red out on sit two with one stone each left to curl.
This could mean GB score two, maybe more, in this end if he pulls it off.
It’s tough though and the margins are fine. He can’t afford to clip his own yellow just above it...
... Great shot! He makes it look easy and the red is nudged into the blue circle leaving GB sitting two up.
Great Britain 1-3 Canada
19:01 , Mike JonesA lovely shot from Grant Hardie sees him draw in from the right and nudge the sitting red out of the house.
Kennedy has to emulate that shot to take out the yellow of Great Britain. He’s slightly wide but manages to displace the yellow but the red glides further away than he’d like.
Great Britain 1-3 Canada
18:57 , Mike JonesCanada are bossing end four as GB set up a few guards for late assaults.
Three reds stones in the house with Bobby Lammie forced to take a few of them out.
He uses the centre guard and fires two reds from the house but there are still two left as the guards spins off to the left.
Great Britain 1-3 Canada
18:49 , Mike JonesThe final stone for Bruce Mouat is a tricky double to limit Canada to one point in this end.
He needs to come off the centre red and spin into the red over to the right.
Oh perfect!
That leaves Canada to settle for one point which they do.
Great Britain 1-2 Canada
18:44 , Mike JonesPlace guard, knock guard. That’s the rhythm of this end at the minute.
Grant Hardie’s final stone sees GB come into the house, knock into his own yellows which spin into a red and firing it away.
Canada sit one up but GB have three in the house.
Mark Kennedy, the man accused of cheating by the Swiss last week, plays a nice thin double and takes out two of those yellows.
Over to Bruce Mouat.
Great Britain 1-2 Canada
18:41 , Mike JonesThe house is being clustered as Great Britain try to limit Canada to just one point in this end.
Canada take out the guard to give themselves a free run at the four stones in the house if they want to take them out.
GB respond by replacing the guard and protecting their own yellows.
Canada displace the guard once more.
Great Britain 1-2 Canada
18:38 , Mike JonesEnd three now. Something to note is that the United States trail Italy 2-1 in their match which is also taking place right now. That result will also have ramifications for Team GB’s semi-final hopes.
Britain have the opening stone and set up a guard in end three before Canada draw into the house from the right.
McMillan tries to emulate them with his second stone but leaves it a little high.
Great Britain 1-2 Canada
18:35 , Mike JonesGrant Hardie plays two superb stones on his turn and gets GB to lie one with the possibility to displace more of the reds.
He’s left Bruce Mouat with some good options but they’ll be reactionary to what Canada can produce.
GB still sit one after an attempted double takeout. Mouat could curl into the house and leave Canada with the decision on what to do.
They do and Mouat fades in to leave the yellow just atop his own in the house. GB lie two, Canada have won shot let and Brad Jacobs will try to knock them both out...
... Oh he does! That’s a great shot, both yellows fly away and Canada are lying three up now. What can Mouat produce?
He needs to hit the most recent stone clear and leave one in the green which he does simply enough. GB take the one point.
Great Britain 0-2 Canada
18:26 , Mike JonesEnd two is shaping up to be an entirely different challenge.
GB have the hammer and will want to match Canada’s two points at the very least.
With a couple of guards set, GB look to freeze a couple of stones in the house near their opponents but have limited success.
Bobby Lammie has the take out the red guard which smashes into the stones clustered in the house.
The result is Canada sitting three up with four stones left to play in the end. No yellows in the house and some thinking to do for Bruce Mouat.
Great Britain 0-2 Canada
18:18 , Mike JonesA slight error from Bruce Mouat means Canada have an advantage in the end now.
He clips the only red remaining in the house but can’t knock it out. On top of that his own yellow sails away meaning that Canada have the chance to score at least two.
Mouat’s next stone is sent to the red on the right side of the house. He knocks that one free and spins into the centre of the house leaving a testing final stone to move the yellow out of the way.
If Canada push Mouat’s stone from the house they’ll score two...
... which they do! Canada take the lead.
Great Britain vs Canada
18:13 , Mike JonesCanada want to win more than one point in this end but things aren’t lined up the way they’d like.
A few shots come and go with plenty of stones cleared out of the house as the Canadians try to set up the end.
If they can’t win more than one point, they might to blank and regain the hammer for end two.
At present, Team GB lie one up in the house with no other stone sitting.
Great Britain vs Canada
18:08 , Mike JonesCanada won the last stone advantage which means they have the hammer for the first of these 10 ends.
Team GB’s Hammy McMillan sends down the first guard before responding to Canada’s first stone and curling into the green section of the house.
We’re just setting up the end at the minute with the Canadian’s drawing in and trying to freeze on top of McMillan’s second stone.
Great Britain vs Canada
18:05 , Mike JonesOkay then, let’s get stuck into this huge curling clash.
Great Britain need to win tonight to keep their destiny in their own hands. Should they lose things will be very difficult to reach the semi-finals.
Lively pre-show at the Olympic Curling Stadium
18:01 , Flo CliffordThe stands in the stadium are around three-quarters full, with plenty of fans waving flags and getting into the spirit of things. The DJ plays ‘I Like to Move It’, which goes down a treat, and gets the strobe lights going before we get into the actual serious business.
Away from curling
17:57 , Mike JonesGB's two-man bobsleigh do their final two heats tonight and the medals will be decided.
Team GB have released a statement saying: 'Taylor Lawrence has been withdrawn from the final two runs of this evening’s 2-man race as a precautionary measure ahead of his participation in this weekend's 4-man competition.
‘Leon Greenwood will replace Taylor in this evening’s race for what will be his Olympic debut.'
Curling future fixtures
17:54 , Mike JonesLet’s be optimistic and say Team GB get the job done against Canada. They’ll have one more crucial round robin match to play before the knockout rounds.
Here’s what their fixture list could look like in the coming days:
Round robin
February 18 - Great Britain vs United States
Play-off round
February 19 - semi-finals
February 20 - bronze medal match
February 21 - gold medal game
Britain's curling results
17:48 , Mike JonesHere’s how things how gone so far for Bruce Mouat and co.
They could really do with a win tonight.
Round robin results
11 February: China 4-9 Great Britain
12 February: Great Britain 6-3 Sweden
13 February: Great Britain 7-9 Italy
14 February: Czech Republic 4-7 Great Britain
15 February: Germany 4-9 Great Britain
15 February: Great Britain 5-6 Switzerland
16 February: Great Britain 6-7 Norway
17 February: Great Britain vs Canada?
Team GB's men's curling squad
17:42 , Mike JonesWho is competing for Team GB?
Skip: Bruce Mouat
Third: Grant Hardie
Second: Bobby Lammie
Lead: Hammy McMillan Jr.
Alternate: Kyle Waddell
What is Last Stone Advantage?
17:36 , Mike JonesBefore a game of curling begins, teams decide who will have what is also known as Last Stone Advantage. In championship curling the hammer is decided by a draw to the button with two players from each team delivering a stone as close as possible to the centre of the house – one stone is delivered clockwise and the other counter-clockwise – and the distance from the stone to the centre being measured.
This process is called the Last Stone Draw or LSD.
In the men’s and women’s events, the final two stones of each end are generally thrown by the skip. This is the de facto captain of each rink, who shapes their team’s strategy and must execute calmly under pressure.
What is the hammer in curling and why is it important
17:30 , Mike JonesThe hammer is a crucial part of curling.
The team that has the hammer is able to throw the final stone of each end, generally a significant advantage, with all other stones thrown and the current scoring situation clear.
Whichever team doesn’t score during an end will get the hammer in the next round – this sometimes causes teams to avoid scoring just a single point, instead preferring to retain the hammer and score more heavily in the next end. It is retained if neither team scores.
Canadian curler insists there is ‘no chance’ they intentionally cheated at Winter Olympics
17:24 , Mike JonesCanada's women's curling team, led by Rachel Homan, has found itself embroiled in a cheating controversy over allegations of double touching stones, a dispute they insist has nothing to do with them and continues to overshadow the Winter Olympics competition.
The row erupted after Sweden's men's team accused Canadian curlers of double touching their stones last Friday.
Canadian curler insists there is ‘no chance’ they intentionally cheated at Olympics
Curling standings
17:18 , Mike JonesHeading into tonight’s matches Switzerland lead the way in the men’s round robin having won each of their six matches. They look safely through to to semi-finals already.
Beneath them are Canada, who take on Great Britain tonight. Despite the controversy over their “cheating” the Canadians have won five and lost just once during this part of the tournament.
But, should Team GB beat them this evening it would pile some pressure on the Canadians for their final two games.
Norway currently sit third in the table with four wins from six games and could easily be overtaken as GB and the United States are tied fourth with four wins from seven matches.
Britain and America play each other in their final match of the round robin so winning tonight could set up a shootout to determine who goes through to the semis.
Increased officiating – then a climbdown
17:12 , Jamie BraidwoodWorld Curling does not have a VAR-style video replay system to re-umpire game decisions, while rulings made during a game are final and cannot be overturned.
After the controversy, World Curling did release a statement informing teams that, while it was “not possible” to have game umpires stationed at each hog line, two officials would move between all four sheets and observe some deliveries.
It resulted in uproar, however, with athletes and teams furious at how their deliveries were being overly scrutinised, at a level never before seen at a major international tournament.
That likely explains why Canada’s women’s team and Great Britain’s men were so quickly flagged following Friday’s controversy. It was also unclear if officials were watching some nations more closely than others.
So, World Curling reversed its decision to increase officiating following a meeting with the competing national organisations. Instead, teams could request that an umpire observes the other team, for a minimum of three ends.
What is a double touch and what are the rules?
17:06 , Jamie BraidwoodFollowing the controversy during the Canada-Sweden match, World Curling issued a reminder to the competing teams, clarifying the rules of “proper release” when delivering the stone.
World Curling said: “When delivering a stone, before the hog line players can retouch the handle as many times as they wish. However, touching the handle after the hog line is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from play.
“During forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play. Violation of this rule, will result in the stone being removed from play.”
The ‘cheating’ accusations, secret filming, and curling scandal engulfing the Winter Olympics
17:00 , Jamie BraidwoodControversy has erupted in the curling at the Winter Olympics, with Great Britain dragged into the explosive fallout following cheating accusations against the Canadian team.
On Friday, Canada’s men’s side was accused by Sweden of breaking the rules by repeatedly double-touching the curling stone after release, leading to swear words being exchanged on the ice.
The ‘cheating’ accusations, secret filming, and scandal engulfing curling
Good evening!
16:00 , Mike JonesWelcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Winter Olympics action as we enter must-win territory for Team GB’s men’s curlers.
Bruce Mouat’s rink are aiming to secure a top four finish in the round robin stage and ensure they have a chance to compete for a medal but an indifferent campaign leaves them with a tricky task.
They have two matches left to play, against Canada and the USA, and must win both to keep their destiny in their own hands.
Tonight they take on the Canadians and know that victory puts them one step closer to a spot in the semi-finals.