Face-planting curler rushed to hospital

An Olympic gold medallist was rushed to hospital with a bloody head wound after face-planting into the ice at the Grand Slam of Curling.

Canadian curler Brad Gushue, who helped his nation to victory at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, needed stiches for a bloody cut when he slipped over in the fourth end.

Acting as the skip, Gushue was calling to his sweepers as he tried to guide the stone into the perfect position inside the house.

But in trying to get out of the way, the back-pedaling Gushue lost his feet and thumped into the ice face first.

The 35-year-old, with his head in his hands, immediately called out to teammates: "I'm not good"

And after spending around three minutes on the ice, Gushue was helped from the arena and taken to hospital.

A patched-up Gushue returned to the action in the seventh end but couldn’t hold off a 5-2 defeat to Steve Laycock.