The World Junior Curling Championships are an annual
curling bonspiel
A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch. Today almost all bonspiels are held indoors on specially prepared ar ...
featuring the world's best curlers who are 21 years old or younger. The competitions for both men and women occur at the same venue. The men's tournament has occurred since 1975 and the women's since 1988. Since curling became an
Olympic sport in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
, the World Junior Curling Championship of the year preceding the Olympic Games have been held at the site of the curling tournament for the upcoming Games.
The event has its origins in the International Junior Masters Bonspiel which began in 1968 and was held annually at the
East York Curling Club
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
. By 1973, the tournament began being called the International Junior Curling Championship and the World Junior Curling Championship in 1974, before being officially sanctioned in 1975.
Qualification
Teams qualify to participate in the World Junior Curling Championships through final rankings at the previous year's championships or through the
World Junior B Curling Championships, which includes any teams that did not already qualify for the championships via the previous year's rankings. The top three teams of this tournament qualify for the main tournament, and the bottom three teams from the main tournament are then demoted to the B tournament. This type of tournament also existed from 2001 to 2004, where two teams were awarded qualification spots through the B tournament instead of three.
Previously, teams that did not qualify through rankings qualified through regional qualifiers. In the Europe Zone, teams participated in the
European Junior Curling Challenge The European Junior Curling Challenge is an annual curling bonspiel
A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch. ...
, in which the winner advances to the World Championships. In the Pacific Zone, teams participated in the
Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships The Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships (formerly known as the Pacific Junior Curling Championships) was an annual curling bonspiel held in the World Curling Federation's Pacific zone. The championships featured curlers under the age of 21 com ...
, in which the winner advances to the World Championships.
Summary
Men's
Skips listed below nation.
Women's
All-time Medal Tables
''As of 2022''
;Men
;Women
;Overall
References
{{Season of Champions
Youth curling
Curling
junior