Wheelchair curling’s first Paralympic doubles final tested a different game

China won the first Paralympic wheelchair curling mixed-doubles title on March 11, 2026, beating the Republic of Korea 9–7 after an extra end. Jinqiao Yang and Meng Wang took gold against Hyejin Baek and Yongsuk Lee at Milano Cortina, completing a new competition within a sport that had been on the Winter Games programme for two decades. ^{[1] [2]}

Both medal matches went beyond their scheduled eight ends. The gold-medal game was tied 7–7, while Latvia and the United States stood at 10–10 in the bronze match. Latvia’s Polina Rozkova and Agris Lasmans ultimately won 11–10 over Laura Dwyer and Steve Emt. The first doubles podium was decided by two additional-end finishes, rather than by either regulation score alone. ^[1]

The historical distinction is the doubles event, rather than wheelchair curling’s arrival at the Paralympics. The mixed-team discipline debuted at Torino 2006. Canada won the first three titles, before China took gold in 2018 and 2022. The 2026 addition supplied another medal competition alongside that established format; it did not replace it. ^{[2] [3]}

Its playing mechanism is different. The IPC’s guide describes eight ends with five stones delivered by each doubles team per end, plus two stones positioned before play starts. Athletes deliver from a seated position, using a stick, and there is no sweeping to alter the stone’s path after release. Positioning and accurate delivery must do the work that viewers of standing curling may associate with sweepers. ^[2]

The expansion also sits within a tightly allocated participation system. When the IPC finalized the 2026 programme in July 2023, it assigned wheelchair curling 66 athlete places: 18 male, 18 female and 30 gender-free. These were quota places across the sport’s two events. They describe the programme’s capacity, rather than establish how many athletes ultimately entered or how national teams selected them. ^[3]

That distinction matters when assessing inclusion. The IPC’s original programme announcement described ambitions to develop female talent and acknowledged a need for a deeper global talent pool. The March final proves that the added competition reached a medal outcome. It does not, by itself, measure whether the addition expanded participation beyond elite national squads or removed barriers to entering the sport. ^{[1] [3]}

About this item: Retrospective report. No first-hand reporting or independent testing is claimed. Corrections policy.