The U.S. women's curling team advanced to the semifinals of the Milan Cortina Olympics for the first time in 24 years after defeating Switzerland in their final round-robin game. They will face the same opponent again on Friday, while Sweden takes on Canada in the other semifinal. Both matches promise intense competition as the teams vie for a spot in the gold medal game.
In a hard-fought 11-end victory over Switzerland on Thursday, the U.S. women's curling team secured their place in the playoffs, marking their first semifinal appearance since 2002. The win came after a narrow loss to Great Britain the previous day, where Team GB stole two points in the 10th end. Skip Tabitha Peterson praised her team's resilience, saying, “It's a long, grueling week and we've really come together through the ups and the downs. The biggest thing I'm proud of is some of the wins we've had after some hard losses.”
Switzerland, ranked No. 2 entering the game, tied it in the 10th end with three points before Peterson delivered the game-winning shot in the extra end. Peterson reflected on the strategy, noting, “We talk about this as a team trying to find the line between going defensive when you're up a certain amount of points and keeping the pedal down, and we kind of went defensive and they got their three.” Teammate Cory Thiesse expressed confidence in Peterson's final throw, stating, “I was fully confident that she wasn't missing that shot in the end there.”
Swiss skip Silvana Tirinzoni acknowledged the U.S. team's strong play, saying, “They played us tough and I just felt like they managed the ice a little better than we did.” She looked forward to the rematch, adding, “We’re in the playoffs. It's very nice, we play USA again, and I expect a good game again like today.”
In the other semifinal, top-seeded Sweden, led by defending bronze medalist Anna Hasselborg, will face Canada. The Canadians, two-time world champions, rebounded from a 1-3 start to win their last five games, including a 10-7 victory over South Korea. Skip Rachel Homan said, “Just really proud of our team. We’re just trying to take it one game at a time and not look too far ahead.” Sweden has medaled in six of the last seven Olympics, while Canada has not won a women's curling medal since 2014 gold.
The U.S. has never medaled in women's curling across seven Olympics, and Switzerland has two silvers from 2002 and 2006. Both semifinals begin at 1:05 p.m. ET on Friday, with winners advancing to Sunday's gold medal game and losers to Saturday's bronze medal match.
