GB wheelchair curlers beat Latvia for first Games winImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean had been frustrated by their performances in their first two gamesByElizabeth HudsonBBC Sport journalistPublished5 March 2026, 11:11 GMTUpdated 1 minute agoGreat Britain defeated Latvia 6-5 to claim their first win in the wheelchair curling mixed doubles event at the Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina.Having been beaten 10-7 by Estonia in Wednesday’s opening game and losing 14-3 in just seven ends to world number ones South Korea on Thursday morning, GB needed a better performance in their second match of the day.And against the Latvians, who had also lost their first two matches, Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean rallied after their opponents stole one in the opening end.Butterfield, who is aiming to become the first Briton to win Winter and Summer Paralympic golds – having finished first in the club throw event at Rio 2016 – played a key role with two superb shots either side of the break.Her last stone of the fourth end enabled a score of two to take a 5-2 lead into the interval, while her final stone of the fifth end resulted in a steal for a 6-2 advantage.Latvia pulled one back in both the sixth and seventh ends but, with GB having the last-stone advantage in the final end and Latvia needing two to force an extra end, they could only manage one to leave Butterfield and Kean victorious.The Britons had struggled against the Koreans in the earlier match, which fell away in the fourth end with Hyejin Baek and Yongsuk Lee 3-2 up in the match and scoring four with one stone each to play.Butterfield missed a take-out attempt and Baek sent her final stone into the house to secure a score of five to put them 8-2 ahead.GB opted to use the powerplay in the fifth end but once again Korea controlled the end and were able to steal two to leave them 10-2 up and firmly in control.Although GB pulled one back in the sixth end, the Koreans maintained their dominance with another strong seventh end to add another four and the match was brought to an early conclusion before the scheduled final end.The GB pair will face the United States on Friday at 08:05 GMT in the fourth of their seven round-robin games, with the Americans having won two of their three matches before the action is paused for the opening ceremony of the Games at 19:00 in Verona.Related topicsWinter Sports
