What is the curling power play? Explaining the rules of Winter Olympics sport

Mixed doubles returns to the programme in Milano-Cortina, with the power play a crucial element of the discipline

Curling is the only sport which viewers can watch every day of the Milano-Cortina winter Olympics, with the mixed doubles format kicking off proceedings two days before the Opening Ceremony and continuing right up until the men’s and women’s medal matches in the final two days of competitions.

Bruce Mouat and Jennnifer Dodds, competing for Scotland, secured victory at their home World Championships in 2021, and after a frustrating fourth-place finish in Beijing 2022 are back in the hunt for a medal.

The format differs from the longer-running men’s and women’s events, in which teams are comprised of four members.

They each throw two stones per end for a total of eight; in mixed doubles, five stones per end are thrown, with one member bookending the end with the first and last stones.

However mixed doubles games begin every end with one stone, per team, pre-placed - therefore it’s possible to score six points in an end.

This is where the power play can be used. In most ends, the pre-placed stones, will be positioned so that the team with last stone advantage will start the end with one stone at the back of the four-foot circle. The team without the last stone advantage will start with a centre guard.

When the power play is called, pre-placed stones will be moved out to one of the sides, with one placed as a corner guard and a stone behind it, with the back of the stone against the tee line - opening up space down the centre of the sheet.

It can be called once by each team per game.