20 years since the World Women’s Curling Championship came to Grande Prairie

Mar 18, 2026 | 3:02 PM

The 2026 World Women’s Curling Championship is continuing in Calgary.

Kerri Einarson’s Team Canada is 6-1 heading into a game in the Wednesday evening draw against Scotland.

It was 20 years ago, on Mar. 18, that the 2006 World Women’s Curling Championship started in Grande Prairie.

It was held at what was then called the Canada Games Arena, now known as the Bonnett’s Energy Centre.

Sweden’s Annette Norberg rink beat the US team skipped by Debbie McCormick in the final.

Norberg was also the two-time defending Olympic champion.

Canada, represented by Kelly Scott’s team from B.C., took the bronze medal.

One of the curlers from the 2006 event, Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont, is the Danish skip at the 2026 version.

The skip of Team Switzerland from 2006, Silvana Tirinzoni, won a silver medal at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

The skip of Team China in 2006, Bingyu Wang, led the curling program at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

Besides the countries already mentioned, teams from Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, and Scotland all took part.

by Curtis Galbraith