The World Junior Curling Championships are an annual curling bonspiel 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, 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.
Teams qualify to participate in the World Junior Curling Championships through final rankings at the previous year's championships or through regional qualifiers. In the Europe Zone, teams participate in the European Junior Curling Challenge, in which the winner advances to the World Championships. In the Pacific Zone, teams participate in the Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships, in which the winner advances to the World Championships.
For a short time, a "B" tournament was held, where the bottom 2 teams in the A tournament were demoted to the B tournament and the top two teams of the B tournament were promoted to the A tournament. The "B" event only lasted from 2001 to 2004.
Read more about World Junior Curling Championships: All-time Medal Tables
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