From November 11 to 16, four men’s and four women’s curling teams will compete at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The goal is to determine which teams will represent Team USA at the upcoming Olympic Qualification Event for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games.
The United States has not yet secured quotas for either the men’s or women’s curling events at the 2026 Olympics. This is due to insufficient Olympic Qualification Points earned at the 2024 and 2025 World Championships.
The winning teams at the Sioux Falls trials will advance to the Olympic Qualification Event in Kelowna, Canada. There, they will compete for the final two quotas available—one for men’s teams and one for women’s teams—to qualify for the Olympic Games. Without securing these quotas, Team USA will not have representation in that event at Milano Cortina.
Team USA has competed in every Olympic curling tournament since the sport was added in 1998. The men’s team won bronze in Turin 2006 and gold in PyeongChang 2018.
“To date, the nation has had teams compete in every Olympic tournament since the sport’s inclusion in the program in 1998, with the men winning bronze at Turin 2006 and gold at PyeongChang 2018.”
The trials will be a critical step for Team USA’s curlers aiming to compete at Milano Cortina 2026.
Author’s summary: The U.S. Olympic Curling Trials in Sioux Falls will decide which men’s and women’s teams move on to the Olympic Qualification Event, fighting for 2026 Winter Games spots.