CANADA CLAIMS BRONZE IN CORTINA

CANADA WINS BRONZE MEDAL AT JUNIORS WORLDS WITH WIN OVER SWEDEN 

In February 2026, athletes from all over the world will converge on Milan d’Ampezzo, Italy to compete for gold, silver, and bronze. But as of Monday morning, Canada has already brought home their first piece of hardware from the Olympic venue. 

Halifax’s Allyson MacNutt, Maria Fitzgerald, Alison Umlah and Grace McCusker – representing Canada at the World Junior Curling Championships – defeated Sweden to claim the bronze medal. The event was being played as a test event in the same venue where the Olympics Games will be held next year. 

The Canadians – led by coach Teresa Breen, team leader Helen Radford, and supported by alternate Cailey Locke – were stuck in a tight battle with the Swedes through seven ends. Despite Canada scoring the game’s only deuce in the fifth end, the score was tied 4-4 after eight… then Canada broke it open. 

A few well-played shots from the team and a long double-takeout from MacNutt led to three points on the board in the ninth end. That gave Canada the option to play defense in the tenth, simplifying the game to a “make the yellow rocks disappear” strategy. 

Both teams made some mistakes, however, so MacNutt – changing the plan slightly – drew into the house so Canada was sitting four points. Swedish skip Moa Dryburgh was able to move three stones with an incredible shot, so Sweden sat two – but an open takeout from MacNutt ended the threat, and the game.  

The bronze medal performance was the first for Canadian women at the Junior Worlds since 2020, when Mackenzie Zacharias claimed gold.  

The Canadian men (skipped by Calgary’s Kenan Wipf) fell a game short of the playoffs, and even with a 4-5 record, they may face relegation to the B-Group. That will depend on where next year’s event is held, and where the host nation sits in the standings.