Curling looks confusing at first, but the scoring is actually pretty straightforward once you break it down. At Milano Cortina 2026, only one team can score per end (which is just the curling word for "round"), and they get points based on whose stones land closest to the center of the target, called the button.
A team scores one point for each of its stones in or touching the house that are closer to the center than any of the opposition team's stones. So if you've got three stones closer than your opponent's closest stone, you score 3 points that round. If neither team's stones touch the house, no points are scored—this is called a blank end.
The crazy part? Only one team scores per end, period. Even if the other team has stones near the button, if they're not closer than the leading team's stones, they get zero points. It's winner-take-all each round, which makes every shot absolutely critical.
Men's and women's team events play 10 rounds, or "ends," with each team playing eight stones per end; the final score is calculated when all 16 stones have been thrown. Mixed doubles is faster and tighter—there are eight ends and each team can throw five stones per end, with one stone per team pre-placed, so it's possible to score six points in an end.
Teams can call a power play once a game, announced at the beginning of an end, which allows a team to decide on the placement of pre-positioned stones. This is where strategy gets wild—it's like a chess move in the middle of the game. Sweden just won mixed doubles gold with incredible last-stone precision, proving that every single point matters when the stakes are high.
The beauty of curling scoring is that it rewards precision and strategy in equal measure. You're not just throwing a stone—you're calculating angles, reading the ice, and outthinking your opponent on every single end. When you watch a game unfold, you start to see why curling became the Winter Olympics' breakout favorite. It's slower-paced than most sports, which means every decision and every throw counts. No randomness, no luck—just skill, sweeping technique, and stone control.