Hog Line Violation Costs South Korea in Mixed Doubles Curling Finale

The South Korean mixed doubles curling pair of Kim Sun-young (Gangneung City Hall) and Jung Young-seok (Gangwon Provincial Office) suffered a come-from-behind defeat to Norway in their final round-robin match at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Kim and Jung lost 5-8 to Norway's Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten in their ninth and final round-robin match at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, on January 9 (Korea time).

The result left the Korean pair with a 3-6 record for the tournament. In mixed doubles curling, 10 teams compete in round-robin play, with the top four advancing to the semifinals to determine final standings.

Kim and Jung endured a difficult start, losing their first five matches before securing their first victory against the United States in the sixth game. They went on to defeat Estonia and Canada for three consecutive wins, but their semifinal hopes were already dashed regardless of the final match result.

Seeking to end on a positive note, the Korean duo saw victory slip away due to a crucial hog line violation.

South Korea, with first-stone advantage in the first end, took an early 1-0 lead after a measurement determined their stone was closer to the button. They extended their advantage to 3-0 with two points in the second end.

After conceding two points in the third end, Korea pushed ahead 5-2 by adding one point each in the fourth and fifth ends. Norway called their power play—a once-per-game option allowing the team with last-stone advantage to reposition pre-placed stones—in the sixth end and scored three points to tie the match.

Korea immediately responded with their own power play in the seventh end but committed a critical error when their final stone crossed the hog line, surrendering two points and falling behind 5-7. Korea conceded another point in the eighth end to finish the match 5-8.