Olympic Curling Outcomes: Sweden wins girls’s Gold medal to proceed dynasty

The Swedish reign over girls’s curling continues. Within the early Sunday afternoon in Cortina, Anna Hasselborg made an open takeout to offer Sweden a 6-5 win over Switzerland in girls’s curling and ship one other Gold medal in that self-discipline to her nation.

In an exhilarating, shut match, Hasselborg’s steal within the eighth finish gave Sweden the late benefit with a 5-3 lead. Switzerland was in a position to rating a pair with the hammer within the ninth, however that left Sweden needing only one level with the final shot of regulation in hand.

The sport featured the identical two international locations that performed for Gold at Torino in 2006, when Annette Norberg introduced residence a win for Sweden. That was additionally the final time that Switzerland earned a medal in girls’s curling, with Mirjam Ott main that Silver medal group.

The Swedes have now medaled of their whopping sixth consecutive Olympics, with 4 of these medals being Gold. Hasselborg skipped the group to Gold in 2018 and Bronze in 2022 and solely her lead modified from the lineup 4 years in the past, whereas the vice and second have been with Hasselborg on every of her three medal-winning groups.

On Saturday, the American group led by three-time Olympic skip Tabitha Peterson noticed their spectacular run in Cortina come to a disappointing finish. They outperformed their pre-tournament expectations by making the semifinals however fell in need of Workforce USA’s first potential medal by a girls’s group, dropping to Rachel Homan and Workforce Canada within the Bronze medal match. The sport was tight by way of 5 ends, however Homan broke by way of with three-point ends within the sixth and eighth to drag away for a 10-7 victory. That clinched Canada’s first medal in girls’s curling since 2014, when Jennifer Jones’ group introduced residence the Gold.

The 2 European qualifiers eradicated North America from Gold medal competition in Friday’s semifinal matches. Switzerland took out Workforce USA with a dominant efficiency, out-shooting the People 88% to 81%. Alina Pätz, the Swiss vice who throws within the fourth place, was particularly unbelievable, throwing a mind-boggling 99% for the sport as she hit each clutch shot in a 7-4 victory.

Sweden had knocked out Canada within the different semifinal, eliminating Homan’s two-time defending world champion group. That match was a wrestle for Homan and the Canadians, who threw simply 73% as a group whereas Homan was at simply 70% individually. That was as a lot as a result of Swedes forcing her into tough photographs because it was any struggles on her personal; the Swedish third, Sara McManus, out-curled her counterpart Tracy Fleury 81-68 to go away Homan with a lot of high-difficulty throws.

Skip: Anna Hasselborg, Vice: Sara McManus, Second: Agnes Knochenhauer, Lead: Sofia Scharback, Alternate: Johanna Heldin

Fourth/Vice: Alina Pätz, Skip/Third: Silvana Tirinzoni, Second: Carole Howald, Lead: Selina Witschonke, Alternate: Stefanie Berset

Skip: Rachel Homan, Vice: Tracy Fleury, Second: Emma Miskew, Lead: Sarah Wilkes, Alternate: Rachelle Brown

How the Medal Spherical Took Form

Going into the ultimate draw on Thursday, two semifinal spots have been already locked up as Sweden and Switzerland had assured themselves of enjoying within the medal spherical. 4 different groups — Canada, South Korea, USA, and Nice Britain — have been in competition for the opposite two positions. All however Nice Britain might assure a spot with a victory, with the group from the UK needing a win and a loss by the USA in opposition to Switzerland to get into the medal spherical.

As a substitute, the People gained on the final doable second, as Tabitha Peterson’s draw to the 4-foot with the hammer in an additional finish gave them a win over Switzerland and despatched them into the semifinals for the primary time since 2002. Canada joined them after beating South Korea, organising the ultimate bracket.

Led by skip Anna Hasselborg, three members of Sweden’s 2018 Gold Medal group returned for 2026. They jumped out to a blistering 6-0 begin within the spherical robin, successful three of these first six video games by three or extra factors. They lastly suffered their first loss of their seventh match, as Canada scored 4 factors over the ultimate three ends handy the Swedes an 8-6 loss, stopping them from absolutely clinching.

Sweden completed up a day earlier than a lot of the remainder of the groups, ending with a pair of Wednesday matches. They break up these two, dropping 8-3 to Korea however then clinching the #1 spot within the semis with a convincing 9-4 victory over China.

Tabitha Peterson and her group received off to a superb begin in Cortina, placing themselves squarely in competition to advance to the medal spherical. They began their match on Thursday, February 12 with a convincing 8-4 victory over South Korea, then struggled in a 9-4 loss to Sweden. That match was backwards and forwards till the late ends, with Sweden holding only a 6-4 lead going into the tenth finish, once they stole three to clinch the sport.

Workforce USA then ripped off three straight wins, beginning with an exhilarating 9-8 win over Canada on Friday. That was a sport of massive ends, with the People scoring 4 within the sixth finish and the Canadians posting a three-point finish within the ninth to go up 8-7. Needing two factors with hammer to clinch a victory, Tabitha received an extended double-takeout from sister Tara Peterson, throwing second, to clear a pair of Canadian rocks and arrange an opportunity for 2. Canadian skip Rachel Homan’s final shot rolled too far, giving Tabitha a transparent draw to the button for 2 factors and the win.

After comfortably dispatching Japan 7-4, Workforce USA pulled off a surprising comeback in opposition to China. Down 4-1 on the halfway level, Peterson received two within the sixth with hammer to shut again to inside one, then pressured China to 1 within the seventh. After China pressured Workforce USA to a single level within the eighth finish, Peterson stole some extent in every of the ninth and tenth ends, incomes a 6-5 win and bettering to 4-1. She made clutch photographs to lock up the steals in each ends, along with her greatest approaching a troublesome draw to the button on her final throw within the closing finish.

Workforce Peterson then dropped their subsequent sport 7-2 to beforehand winless Italy, skipped by blended doubles Bronze medalist Stefania Constantini, however they bounced again on Tuesday with a dominant 10-3 victory over Denmark. That put them in a tie for 2nd place at 5-2, one sport up on 4-3 Canada and South Korea with two matches to play however with head-to-head wins over each; that left the People needing only one win out of their final two video games to lock up a semifinal berth.

The People dropped an in depth 8-7 choice to Nice Britain of their penultimate match, which featured maybe the shot of the match from fourth Rebecca Morrison to steal two factors within the tenth finish for the win. With the opposite outcomes factored in, Workforce USA had simple arithmetic within the closing draw: they might advance to the semis with a win over Switzerland or a loss by Nice Britain in opposition to Italy.

Italy was no assist, falling 7-4 because the Scots managed the sport all through, placing the stress on Workforce USA. They seemed to be in an incredible place for a lot of the sport and held a 6-3 lead going into the tenth finish, however one small miss early ultimately arrange Switzerland to take three factors and tie the sport, sending it to an additional finish. With the hammer, the People have been preventing with just a few Swiss rocks across the prime of the home, narrowly lacking just a few raise-takeouts and requiring Peterson to throw beneath immense stress to ship them on. Her closing rock was an open draw to the button and it was only a bit heavy, however the stone stopped at the back of the 4-foot simply quickly sufficient to out-count two Swiss rocks on the prime of the circle to offer Workforce USA its one level and the win.

That despatched USA into the semis because the #2 seed the place they might face Switzerland in a rematch.

Workforce Switzerland received off to a 4-2 begin with wins over Italy, China, Canada, and Nice Britain. That set them up for an enormous matchup in opposition to South Korea on Tuesday; the 2 groups sat in a 3-way tie with Workforce USA for second place behind Sweden. The Swiss group jumped out to a pleasant lead with a 3-point second finish, holding on for a 7-5 victory that saved them in tempo with the People in second place.

Switzerland completed up in opposition to Denmark and Workforce USA, needing one win in both match to lock up a semifinal spot. They received it in opposition to the Danes on Wednesday, scoring three with the hammer within the tenth for a 6-4 victory. They pushed the People to the brink on Thursday morning, however Peterson delivered the largest throw of her life to offer the USA a spot and finalize the semifinal matchups.

It was a surprisingly tough begin for Workforce Canada in Cortina, as Rachel Homan’s two-time defending world champion group scuffled on the primary few days. They dropped video games to semifinal contenders from the USA, Nice Britain, and Switzerland to fall to 1-3, however bounced again with 4 straight wins, organising a win-and-in situation in opposition to South Korea. That match did go right down to the ultimate rock, however Homan hit an open takeout with Korea sitting two to attain one and lock up a 10-7 victory and a spot within the medal spherical.

Last Spherical Robin Standings