Blood on the ice halts curling

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - There was a moment of tension at the Olympic curling venue on Thursday when Canada's game against Sweden was halted to clean up blood that had dripped on to the ice.

It turned out the injury to Canadian Marc Kennedy's elbow was not inflicted in rough curling action, however, but was caused by a rug burn in a game of "mini sticks" against the women's hockey team at the Olympic village.

"A real major injury -- we almost had to call in the ambulance," team mate John Morris joked.

Luckily, as a fire fighter, Morris has first-aid training.

"We got out one of those knuckle band-aids and I think he's good to go," he said.

After the blood was mopped up, Canada defeated Sweden 7-3 to remain unbeaten.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)