Beijing 2022 curling wrap-up – top stories, moments and records

Curling at Beijing 2022 had it all. New countries emerged to take on the usual world order, a first-ever extra end in a men’s Olympic final to decide the gold medal, and Team GB secured their only medals of the Games – a gold and a silver – in the sport.

Known as chess on ice, curling started two days before the spectacular opening ceremony on Friday 4 February, such were the number of matches to pack in. The drama built to a crescendo with the mixed doubles – in only its second appearance at an Olympic Winter Games – through the round robin matches before peaking in the medal matches with gold for debutants Italy who shocked the world by going through the entire tournament.

The flow then ebbed as the men’s and women’s matches began, which continued to the final day on 20 February with the women's gold-medal match, won by Great Britain. The previous day's men's edition was won by Sweden, the only nation to win a medal in all three competitions.

No one told Italy about the world order of curling titans expected to take gold in the mixed team event at Beijing 2022.

Not only were the duo of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner making a debut appearance for Italy at an Olympic Winter Games but they went on to claim the gold medal - doing so without losing a single game in the tournament, going 11-0 and scything through the big curling nations.

In the final at the National Aquatics Centre, the Italian pair beat the husband and wife pairing of Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten, Norway's power couple, 8-5 to take the ultimate prize. Quite the boon heading into the next Olympic Winter Games, which will take place in their home nation, at Milano-Cortina 2026.

Swedish skip Niklas Edin finally claimed the Olympic gold medal