The Canadian women’s curling team scored three in the sixth and eighth ends and held on to win 10-7 in the 10th during the bronze-medal game against the United States on Saturday during the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The American women fell just short of their first medal in the event.
Advertisement
Team USA staked itself to a 1-0 lead in the first end, but Canada answered right back to start what became a back-and-forth affair in Cortina.
The U.S. recorded singles in the first, third and fifth ends, entering a pivotal sixth with a 3-2 advantage.
But that’s when Canada capitalized on a pair of costly American mistakes. Tara Peterson sent a shot through the house, and her sister, Tabitha, didn’t create enough momentum to take a Canadian stone out of the paint, enabling the Canadians to score three in the end and take a 5-3 lead.
Fortunately for the U.S., it bounced back in the seventh end to tie the game.
Advertisement
After Canada’s Rachel Homan threw a great freeze, Tabitha, the Americans’ skip, split a pair of stones with a draw that ultimately tapped off a Canadian rock and rested in the button, awarding the Americans a much-needed multiple.
Any relief the U.S. felt was short-lived, though. The Americans left Team Canada another chance for three in the eighth end, and Homan — a three-time world champion who was in search of her first Olympic medal — seized the opportunity, making it an 8-5 game.
Team USA wasn’t going away lightly. It made the most of the ensuing hammer, as Peterson’s final throw of the ninth end knocked a Canadian stone out of the four foot and nestled next to another American rock for two.
Advertisement
Down 8-7, the Americans needed a steal in the 10th end. They couldn’t conjure a last bit of Olympic magic to make it happen.
Peterson’s final throw didn’t squeak past Canada’s guard, and the Canadians rejoiced to the tune of their 10-7 victory.
After going 6-3 in round-robin play, the U.S. women made the Olympic playoffs for the first time since 2002.
As was the case in Salt Lake City 24 years ago, the Americans fell to Switzerland in the semifinals. Also like the 2002 Games, Canada defeated the U.S. in the bronze-medal game.
Team Canada got off to an uncharacteristically rough start to this year’s Games, winning just one of its first four games in round-robin competition. During that span, the American women notched their first Olympic win over a Canadian team that previously had their number in a sport that was introduced to the Games in 1998.
Advertisement
Led by Homan, though, the Canadians still found their way into the four-team playoff field.
After winning five consecutive medals upon women’s curling’s Olympic debut, notably two golds, Canada finished just sixth in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and fifth in the 2022 Beijing Games, missing the playoffs both times, including once with Homan as skip.
In this year’s Games, however, Homan and Team Canada persevered for bronze.
Still, the United States’ run to the semifinals is encouraging. Earlier in this year’s Games, Cory Thiesse became the first American woman curler to win a medal, earning silver in the mixed doubles.
Advertisement
On Saturday, Thiesse eclipsed 190 ends played in these Games, the most anyone has ever played in one Olympics. Taylor Anderson-Heide swept her heart out, and the Peterson sisters gave it their all.
The Americans just fell short.
Leave a Reply