Power Outage Disrupts Korea's Olympic Curling Debut; Mixed Doubles Suffer Heavy Defeat

South Korea's mixed doubles curling team suffered a crushing 10-3 defeat against Sweden in their opening round-robin match at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, with the game disrupted by an unexpected power outage at the 70-year-old venue.

Kim Sun-young (Gangneung City Hall) and Jung Young-seok (Gangwon Provincial Office) were competing against Swedish siblings and former world champions Isabella Wranå and Rasmus Wranå at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium when the arena suddenly went dark during the first end. The blackout, which lasted nearly 10 minutes, knocked out all lighting and scoreboards at the stadium, originally built in the 1950s and repurposed for curling events.

Concerns immediately emerged that the unexpected delay could negatively affect player performance.

Those concerns proved warranted. The Korean pair, serving as the vanguard of the national delegation at these Games, ultimately fell in decisive fashion.

Korea held a 3-2 lead through three ends and appeared to have momentum on their side. However, the team collapsed in the fourth and fifth ends, surrendering seven points. Attempting a comeback in the sixth end with a power play—a mixed doubles rule allowing teams to reposition the pre-placed stones to favor the team with the hammer—Korea conceded another point and the match ended at 3-10.

The defeat dims medal hopes for the Korean duo and raises concerns about their path to the knockout stage. The Olympic mixed doubles curling competition features 10 nations—Korea, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States—competing in round-robin play, with the top four teams advancing to the tournament bracket.

With upcoming matches against powerhouses including host nation Italy, the United States, and Canada, Korea must urgently restore confidence and performance to secure a spot in the knockout round.