Power outage, dead fly can’t derail Canada in Olympic mixed doubles curling opener

Canada's Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman compete against Czech Republic's Vit Chabicovsky and Julie Zelingrova during a curling mixed doubles session at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO — A comfortable win in the Olympic curling round-robin opener on Wednesday was far from routine for the Canadian mixed doubles team of Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman.

An arena power outage interrupted play in the first end. Blood from a dead fly was smeared across the ice in the third. A re-throw was required after a pre-placed stone was set in the wrong spot in the fourth.

Canada overcame the challenges in a 10-5 win over Czechia that served as an interesting kickoff to Olympic competition at the Games.

“If things are out of our control, it might be easy to get frustrated a little bit,” Gallant said. “But we’ve been around long enough to know that that’s not helping too much. So I was proud of the way we handled it.”

The husband-and-wife duo from Chestermere, Alta., scored four points in the second end for a 5-0 lead. Julie Zelingrova and Vit Chabicovsky replied with three in the third end before Canada tacked on a pair in the fourth.

Peterman made a soft tap for three in the sixth end, and the players shook hands after a measure confirmed a Czech single in the seventh.

“That was a dream start,” Gallant said. “But you can’t get too comfortable in doubles, there’s a lot of points to be had ... so just happy with the way we carried it through right to the end.”

The four-game session at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium came two days before the Games’ opening ceremony.

Women’s team and men’s team play begins Feb. 11. Rachel Homan’s Ottawa-based side will represent Canada while Brad Jacobs will skip the Calgary-based men’s team.

Peterman and Gallant won the Canadian Trials a year ago and clinched an Olympic berth with a sixth-place finish at the world mixed doubles championship last spring.

The Czechs didn’t qualify until December when they earned a berth at the Olympic Qualifying Event in Kelowna, B.C.

A decent crowd was on hand at the 3,450-seat arena, which also served as a venue at the Cortina Games in 1956. It was a welcome change from the Beijing curling experience in 2022, when spectators weren’t allowed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

A gasp could be heard throughout the rink when all but a few house lights went out in the first end. Play was delayed for about five minutes.

“We’re ready to expect the unexpected, and a short power outage is totally fine,” Peterman said. “We just laughed it off and took the time to chat about what we wanted to do.”

In the third end, Peterman noticed a fly on the ice midway down the sheet.

“(It) was freezing in there and I thought maybe Brett was going to have to play in that same path,” she said. “So I just wanted to get it out of the way before he had to throw there, and then I smooshed it, and it bled.

“I smeared blood across the ice, and I was like, ‘Oh God, he’s going to have to draw here, but it was fine.’”

Chabicovsky said he made a mistake before the fourth end by setting a pre-placed stone in an incorrect position. The umpire noticed it as Zelingrova was making her throw.

A technical timeout was called, and she was allowed to re-throw the rock. Peterman followed with a perfect freeze to help set up an eventual deuce.

“It was an honest mistake,” Gallant said. “I know I’ve done that before, it just wasn’t at the Olympics. I’m glad there’s eyeballs on to catch it.”

Chabicovsky said he was “just zoning out” and put the rock on position No. 2 instead of No. 1.

“We once played a game when our opponent did it five times in one game,” he said with a chuckle. “It wasn’t me, it was our opponent. So I’m actually glad that it only happened once.”

Canada finished with a shooting percentage of 88 per cent, well ahead of the Czechs at 59 per cent.

In other games, Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds topped Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten 8-6.

Sweden’s Isabella Wrana and Rasmus Wrana needed six ends to complete a 10-3 rout of South Korea’s Yeongseok Jeong and Seonyeong Kim. Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann defeated Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill 9-7.

Canada’s John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes won mixed doubles gold in 2018 when the discipline made its Olympic debut in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Morris and Homan missed the playoffs in 2022.

Curling is on the program every day through the Games’ finale on Feb. 22.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2026.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press