The Swedish reign over women’s curling continues. In the early Sunday afternoon in Cortina, Anna Hasselborg made an open takeout to give Sweden a 6-5 win over Switzerland in women’s curling and deliver another Gold medal in that discipline to her country.

In a thrilling, close match, Hasselborg’s steal in the 8th end gave Sweden the late advantage with a 5-3 lead. Switzerland was able to score a pair with the hammer in the 9th, but that left Sweden needing just one point with the last shot of regulation in hand.

The game featured the same two countries that played for Gold at Torino in 2006, when Annette Norberg brought home a win for Sweden. That was also the last time that Switzerland earned a medal in women’s curling, with Mirjam Ott leading that Silver medal team.

The Swedes have now medaled in their whopping sixth consecutive Olympics, with four of those medals being Gold. Hasselborg skipped the team to Gold in 2018 and Bronze in 2022 and only her lead changed from the lineup four years ago, while the vice and second have been with Hasselborg on each of her three medal-winning teams.

On Saturday, the American team led by three-time Olympic skip Tabitha Peterson saw their impressive run in Cortina come to a disappointing end. They outperformed their pre-tournament expectations by making the semifinals but fell short of Team USA’s first potential medal by a women’s team, losing to Rachel Homan and Team Canada in the Bronze medal match. The game was tight through five ends, but Homan broke through with three-point ends in the 6th and 8th to pull away for a 10-7 victory. That clinched Canada’s first medal in women’s curling since 2014, when Jennifer Jones’ team brought home the Gold.

The two European qualifiers eliminated North America from Gold medal contention in Friday’s semifinal matches. Switzerland took out Team USA with a dominant performance, out-shooting the Americans 88% to 81%. Alina Pätz, the Swiss vice who throws in the fourth position, was especially incredible, throwing a mind-boggling 99% for the game as she hit every clutch shot in a 7-4 victory.

Sweden had knocked out Canada in the other semifinal, eliminating Homan’s two-time defending world champion team. That match was a struggle for Homan and the Canadians, who threw just 73% as a team while Homan was at just 70% individually. That was as much due to the Swedes forcing her into difficult shots as it was any struggles on her own; the Swedish third, Sara McManus, out-curled her counterpart Tracy Fleury 81-68 to leave Homan with a number 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 Round Took Shape

Going into the final draw on Thursday, two semifinal spots were already locked up as Sweden and Switzerland had assured themselves of playing in the medal round. Four other teams — Canada, South Korea, USA, and Great Britain — were in contention for the other two positions. All but Great Britain could guarantee a spot with a victory, with the team from the United Kingdom needing a win and a loss by the USA against Switzerland to get into the medal round.

Instead, the Americans won at the last possible moment, as Tabitha Peterson’s draw to the 4-foot with the hammer in an extra end gave them a win over Switzerland and sent them into the semifinals for the first time since 2002. Canada joined them after beating South Korea, setting up the final bracket.

Led by skip Anna Hasselborg, three members of Sweden’s 2018 Gold Medal team returned for 2026. They jumped out to a blistering 6-0 start in the round robin, winning three of those first six games by three or more points. They finally suffered their first loss in their seventh match, as Canada scored four points over the final three ends to hand the Swedes an 8-6 loss, preventing them from fully clinching.

Sweden finished up a day before most of the rest of the teams, ending with a pair of Wednesday matches. They split those two, losing 8-3 to Korea but then clinching the #1 spot in the semis with a convincing 9-4 victory over China.

Tabitha Peterson and her team got off to an excellent start in Cortina, putting themselves squarely in contention to advance to the medal round. They started their tournament 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 back and forth until the late ends, with Sweden holding just a 6-4 lead going into the 10th end, when they stole three to clinch the game.

Team USA then ripped off three straight wins, starting with a thrilling 9-8 win over Canada on Friday. That was a game of big ends, with the Americans scoring four in the sixth end and the Canadians posting a three-point end in the 9th to go up 8-7. Needing two points with hammer to clinch a victory, Tabitha got a long double-takeout from sister Tara Peterson, throwing second, to clear a pair of Canadian rocks and set up a chance for two. Canadian skip Rachel Homan’s last shot rolled too far, giving Tabitha a clear draw to the button for two points and the win.

After comfortably dispatching Japan 7-4, Team USA pulled off a stunning comeback against China. Down 4-1 at the midway point, Peterson got two in the sixth with hammer to close back to within one, then forced China to one in the seventh. After China forced Team USA to a single point in the eighth end, Peterson stole a point in each of the 9th and 10th ends, earning a 6-5 win and improving to 4-1. She made clutch shots to lock up the steals in both ends, with her best coming on a tough draw to the button on her last throw in the final end.

Team Peterson then dropped their next game 7-2 to previously winless Italy, skipped by mixed doubles Bronze medalist Stefania Constantini, but they bounced back on Tuesday with a dominant 10-3 victory over Denmark. That put them in a tie for 2nd place at 5-2, one game up on 4-3 Canada and South Korea with two matches to play but with head-to-head wins over both; that left the Americans needing just one win out of their last two games to lock up a semifinal berth.

The Americans dropped a close 8-7 decision to Great Britain in their penultimate match, which featured perhaps the shot of the tournament from fourth Rebecca Morrison to steal two points in the 10th end for the win. With the other results factored in, Team USA had simple math in the final draw: they would advance to the semis with a win over Switzerland or a loss by Great Britain against Italy.

Italy was no help, falling 7-4 as the Scots controlled the game throughout, putting the pressure on Team USA. They looked to be in a great position for most of the game and held a 6-3 lead going into the 10th end, but one small miss early in the end set up Switzerland to take three points and tie the game, sending it to an extra end. With the hammer, the Americans were fighting with a few Swiss rocks around the top of the house, narrowly missing a few raise-takeouts and requiring Peterson to throw under immense pressure to send them on. Her final rock was an open draw to the button and it was just a bit heavy, but the stone stopped in the back of the 4-foot just soon enough to out-count two Swiss rocks at the top of the circle to give Team USA its one point and the win.

That sent USA into the semis as the #2 seed where they would face Switzerland in a rematch.

Team Switzerland got off to a 4-2 start with wins over Italy, China, Canada, and Great Britain. That set them up for a massive matchup against South Korea on Tuesday; the two teams sat in a 3-way tie with Team USA for second place behind Sweden. The Swiss team jumped out to a nice lead with a 3-point second end, holding on for a 7-5 victory that kept them in pace with the Americans in second place.

Switzerland finished up against Denmark and Team USA, needing one win in either match to lock up a semifinal spot. They got it against the Danes on Wednesday, scoring three with the hammer in the 10th for a 6-4 victory. They pushed the Americans to the brink on Thursday morning, but Peterson delivered the biggest throw of her life to give the USA a spot and finalize the semifinal matchups.

It was a surprisingly rough start for Team Canada in Cortina, as Rachel Homan’s two-time defending world champion team scuffled on the first few days. They dropped games to semifinal contenders from the USA, Great Britain, and Switzerland to fall to 1-3, but bounced back with four straight wins, setting up a win-and-in scenario against South Korea. That match did go down to the final rock, but Homan hit an open takeout with Korea sitting two to score one and lock up a 10-7 victory and a spot in the medal round.

Final Round Robin Standings