Competition at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics began in inauspicious fashion after the lights went out at the curling venue just 10 minutes into the start of the event.
Curling competition officially began on Wednesday, two days before the Opening Ceremony at the San Siro.
The opening stages of the first mixed doubles round robin matches were underway, but were swiftly brought to a halt by a power failure at the Olympic Ice Stadium.
Play was halted by officials with Britain’s Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds in the first end of their match against Norway.
‘We have had a power cut here at the stadium,’ said BBC commentator Steve Cram, as he laughed at the untimely disruption.
‘Not a great start for the organisers here.
‘I think play has been paused, because the scoring screens have gone off.
‘Most of the lights on the ice seem to be still on, but certainly most has gone.’
Curling competition was brought to a halt by a power cut, less than 10 minutes into the start of action at the 2026 Winter Olympics
An official was seen in communication with staff with play paused, while Britain’s Jen Dodds was seen laughing at the unexpected delay
The lights were out for around four to five minutes, before competition was able to resume
‘Hang fire, someone ran off to go and put some money in the meter or something.
‘With a bit of luck we will get going again, it is a bit darker than it should be.
It is fair to say, not everything has been ready as such. We came here yesterday and everything seemed good and it is fair to say everyone in the curling world seemed happy, but it seemed there were things going on in and around this venue and Cortina.
‘There will be a little bit of a pause.’
Cram quickly asked his co-commentators, former British curlers Jackie Lockhart and Vicky Wright, about their worst delays to matches.
Wright revealed a fire alarm had delayed a match at European Championships, while Lockhart explained how a faulty ice machine had left a sheet of ice as a ‘swimming pool’ at the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics.
The British curlers appeared in good spirits during the delay, with Dodds seen laughing at the disruption while an official was communicating with staff in the venue.
The crowd were then heard cheering after the lights flickered back into life in the arena to allow competition to resume following anear four to five minute delay.
Dodds and Maout would ultimately earn an 8-6 win to start the round robin phase impressively, with the latter then joking about the unexpected disruption.
‘It was a great atmosphere, the venue is amazing and the ice is really good,’ Moat said.
‘I didn’t really mind the lights going off, it was a bit of a dance and a boogie, a rave, nightclub you know.’
Concerns have been raised ahead of the Games, with a cable car and the ice hockey venue among key infrastructure that has yet to be completed ahead of the official start.
