Google has created an interactive Doodle which celebrates curling to mark the remaining time until the Winter Olympics 2026. The Doodle uses winter sports together with Italian cultural elements and Northern Italian host regions to provide users an interactive way to experience the worldwide sporting event which will begin on February 6 at the Milano Cortina Games.
The Winter Olympics 2026 will take place from February 6 to February 22. The games will be hosted in Northern Italy across three main areas, which include Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo and additional sites throughout Valtellina and Val di Fiemme and Anterselva.
The Google Doodle of today, titled "The Spirit of the Slopes" shows animated scenes that display snowy landscapes from Northern Italy. The artwork displays athletes who get ready for winter sports while showing Italian culture through Italian regional plants and historical winter equipment design elements from past Italian-hosted games.
Google has introduced a playable mini-game that users can access through the animation. The users can experience skiing or snowboarding through alpine gates in a designed low-poly environment. Players who advance through the game will discover information about the two host cities, Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, which enhances their educational experience.
Curling is also known as chess on ice because of its strategic elements. The game consists of teams that move their polished granite stones on ice towards a target in the shape of a circle called the house.
The teammates use their brooms to create ice conditions which help them control both the speed and path of the stone.
The sport of curling originated in 16th-century Scotland when people began to play it on frozen ponds. The sport first appeared in the Olympic Games during the 1924 Chamonix Games and became a permanent Olympic event starting in 1998.
The Winter Olympics 2026 will hold its curling competitions at Cortina, which already started its mixed doubles preliminary round on Wednesday.