The curling competition of the 2010 Olympics was held at Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre in Vancouver. It is the fifth time that curling was on the Olympic program, after having been staged in 1924, 1998, 2002 and 2006. For the 2010 Winter Olympics the competition followed the same format that was used during the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, with 10 teams playing a round robin tournament, from which the top four teams advance to the semi-finals. The women's competition concluded on Friday, February 26, 2010. In the bronze medal match, the Chinese team made history by becoming the first team from Asia to win an Olympic curling medal. The gold medal match was one of the closest medal games in Olympic competition. Team Canada won the silver medal, their best performance since the 1998 Nagano Olympic Games when Sandra Schmirler skipped the Canadians to gold. Team Sweden won the gold medal. Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, and Anna Le Moine became the first curlers to win two gold medals at the Olympic Games. The men's competition concluded on Saturday, February 27, 2010. In the bronze medal match, Markus Eggler of Switzerland became the first male curler to win two Olympic medals. The gold medal final was a rematch between Canada and Norway of the 2002 Olympics men's final. The only disturbance was when an unsportsmanlike spectator deliberately blew a horn while the Norwegians were delivering their stones. The crowd promptly booed the man and the horn was not blown again until the medal ceremony. The Canadians controlled the game throughout and never relinquished the lead. Torger Nergård and Kevin Martin became the second and third men to win two Olympic medals. With the conclusion of the Vancouver Olympic curling tournament, eight athletes now have two Olympic curling medals. They are in the order in which they received their medals: Mirjam Ott, Markus Eggler, Kevin Martin, Torger Nergård, Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, and Anna Le Moine, all of Sweden.
Performances at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 World Curling Championships decided which countries were able to send curling teams to the 2010 Olympics. Points were distributed in the following manner, with the top 9 teams qualifying for the Olympics.
Position at WC
Number of points
1
14
2
12
3
10
4
9
5
8
6
7
7
6
8
5
9
4
10
3
11
2
12
1
In case of a tie during the 2007 World championships, the points were split. For the 2008 and 2009 championships, such ties were broken according to head to head matchups, and if necessary, by the draw shot challenge. Canada, as the host nation, qualified automatically. Scotland's points counted as Great Britain.
Men's standings
*Scotland, England and Wales all compete separately in international curling. By an agreement between the curling federations of those three home nations, only Scotland can score Olympic qualification points for Great Britain.
Women's standings
*Scotland, England and Wales all compete separately in international curling. By an agreement between the curling federations of those three home nations, only Scotland can score Olympic qualification points for Great Britain.
