World Curling announced numerous changes to its competition structure for the next Olympic quadrennial starting in the 2026-27 season.
The most notable changes include the expansion of the World Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships as well as the axing of the annual Pan Continental Curling Championships.
The world championships will be expanded from 13 to 18 teams and will feature two pools of nine rinks. Pool winners will advance to the semi-finals while the second and third-placed teams will battle in semi-final qualifiers.
The bottom four nations will be relegated to the World Curling Championships B-Division the following year.
With the addition of the World Curling Championships B and C Divisions, World Curling announced on Tuesday that the Pan Continental Curling Championships will no longer take place.
The event has been around since 2022 with this year’s tournament in Minnesota being the last.
Finally, the World Junior Curling Championships will be expanded to 16 teams for each gender.