Sochi 2014: Previewing the wheelchair curling competition

Canada and Sweden are expected to be the ones to beat in wheelchair curling at Sochi 2014. 07 Mar 2014

A picture of 2 person in wheelchairs playing curling

Canada's wheelchair curling team won the 2013 World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Sochi, Russia.

ⒸWorld Curling Federation / Alina Paulyuchik

By IPC

In a field of 10 mixed gender teams, Canada enter the competition as the defending Paralympic and world champions.

Outlook

In a field of 10 mixed gender teams, Canada enter the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games wheelchair curling competition as the defending Paralympic and world champions. In fact, they are the only country to have won wheelchair curling Paralympic gold since it was added to the Games programme in 2006. Playing in the lead position, Sonja Gaudet has been an integral part of those titles and is hoping to star again on the Sochi ice.

Paralympic bronze medallists Sweden, led by Jale Jungnell, hope to knock Canada off their pedestal after losing to them by a single point in the final at the 2013 World Wheelchair Curling Championships, which also served as the Sochi 2014 Test Event. The Chinese, South Korean and Russian teams also have the talent to be in the medal mix.

Great Britain, Finland, Norway, Slovakia and the USA make up the rest of the teams, who will play six days of round-robin matches prior to the semi-finals and medal matches.

At a glance

Venue: Ice Cube Curling Centre

Medal events: 1

Teams: 10

Classification: There is only one sport class, which is for athletes with an impairment in their legs but not their arms.

Paralympic Games debut: Torino 2006

Vancouver 2010

Gold: Canada

Silver: South Korea

Bronze: Sweden

Did you know?

A wheelchair curling stone weighs 19.96 kg.