MILAN, Jan 31 (Reuters) - ‌Canada's Olympic curling champion Brad Jacobs knows exactly ‌what it takes for him to reach ‌the top: almost five days of fasting just before the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

Few Olympic fans would associate curling with gruellingpreparation ‍and fasting that seems more fitting ‍to skaters, skiers or ‌ice hockey players, but for 40-year-old Jacobs, who won ‍curling ​gold at the 2014 Games, it is just what he needed ahead of next ⁠week's start of the Games in Italy.