Two curling stones worth approximately £750 have been stolen from the venue in Cortina ahead of the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics, World Curling has confirmed. The theft was discovered during a routine check on Monday, before the start of the inaugural mixed doubles wheelchair competition, which began on Wednesday night.
A World Curling spokesperson told the Press Association: “Unfortunately there has been a situation where two stones were stolen from the venue. The local authorities are currently investigating.” The stones had also been used in the Olympic mixed doubles tournament. Spare stones from the same set have been brought up to specification and will replace the stolen granite.
The theft did not affect ParalympicsGB’s Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean, who lost their opening match 10-7 to Estonia. A regulation stone has a maximum circumference of 36 inches and weighs about 42 pounds. The granite is sourced from Ailsa Craig, an island off the Ayrshire coast of Scotland, according to manufacturer Kays Scotland, which produced only 128 stones for the Games.
The first day of official competition at the Winter Paralympics is on Saturday, with the opening ceremony taking place in Verona on Friday evening.
