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The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics' sports programme began on Wednesday with the curling mixed doubles, which started two days before the opening ceremony in Milan.
Four matches will be held at the Cortina Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Wednesday in the first sporting event at the 2026 Games which officially run between February 6-22.
Sweden v South Korea, Great Britain v Norway, Canada v the Czech Republic and Estonia v Switzerland will be played in front of several hundred spectators.
Italy, reigning Olympic champions in the mixed doubles, will begin their bid for gold against South Korea on Thursday.
Friday's opening ceremony will be primarily held at the San Siro football stadium in Milan, with three other venues hosting the traditional athletes parade, due to the sprawling nature of this year's Olympics.
The Games will use a host of existing venues, meaning they will stretch for 350 kilometres (217 miles) across northern Italy from Cortina -- one of the world's iconic skiing locations -- to Milan, with other "clusters" spread through the Alps.
L.Zimmermann--NZN