U.S. curlers upend reigning Olympic, world champion Italy in hard-fought mixed doubles semifinal
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The United States’ Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse beat reigning Olympic and world champions Italy 9-8 in the mixed doubles semifinals at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games on Monday to set up a final against Sweden, which defeated in-form Britain 9-3.
The Americans edged the hard-fought battle to ensure Italy’s Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini will not take gold for the first time in the three competitions they have played together.
Dropkin, of Massachusetts, and Thiesse, who is from Minnesota, whooped and hollered after edging the hosts, hugging tightly.
“I bring out a little bit more energy than I probably should,” Dropkin said, grinning through a voice hoarse from yelling in celebration.
“You don’t see football players, basketball players, baseball players always hiding their emotions,” he continued. “You know when they’re pissed off and you know when they’re having a good time. Why not curlers, too?”
In the other semifinal, 2024 world champions and Swedish siblings Isabella Wrana and Rasmus Wrana beat Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds of Britain, who had been in red-hot form and won eight of their nine round-robin stage matches.
“We’ve got to go out there tomorrow with exactly the same feeling like we had today,” said Rasmus Wranaa, who has already won a men’s Olympic gold in 2022.
“We have to play absolutely like we did today or even better to get a chance at a win tomorrow. And that’s definitely what we’re going to try to do.”
The gold-medal game is scheduled for Tuesday at 12:05 p.m. ET. At 8:05 a.m., Italy will take on Britain in the bronze-medal match.
Earlier Monday, Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman closed out a disappointing Games performance with an 8-4 victory over Switzerland.
Meanwhile, with host Italy up 4-2 after three ends, Thiesse produced a pinpoint draw to score a three-pointer and give the 2023 world champions the lead at the halfway mark.
The crowd at the Cortina Olympic Curling Centre was largely comprised of lively Italian and American supporters, with chants of ‘Italia, Italia, Italia’ and ‘USA, USA, USA’ breaking out after every few shots.
Bronze-medal match ‘important’ to Italians
Italy rallied to take an 8-7 lead heading into the final end, but the U.S. had the hammer and a precise double take-out by Dropkin cleared up the ice, with Thiesse sealing the win on the last stone.
“We gave our opponents some chances and they took it. This was the difference, and so they deserve this win, for sure. And it will be important to recover soon and remember that tomorrow will be another important day [in the bronze match at 8:05 a.m. ET],” Constantini said.
“We have to remember that also Scotland [Britain] is on the same page as us. They are feeling the same, so we have to be better than them mentally, really be ready tomorrow.”
Britain made a slow start to trail 3-2 after four ends, but a double takeout by Dodds helped them steal a point and level in the fifth.
Sweden opted to use their power play in the sixth and went on to set up four stones in the house which Dodds, who was one of the standout players of the tournament, was unable to make contact with as Isabella Wranaa ensured a five-point score.
The gulf was just too much for Britain to make up and they conceded with one end left to play.
South Korea seals Canada’s fate
Gallant and Peterman finished out of the playoff picture with a 4-5 record.
The husband-and-wife duo from Chestermere, Alta., opened the competition with three victories before dropping five games in a row. Canada’s fate was sealed after a loss to South Korea on Sunday night.
In the round-robin finale, Canada scored three points in the seventh end and ran Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann out of rocks in the eighth.
“It was just a good feeling because we were pretty deflated after yesterday,” Gallant said. “It was a tough day and I didn’t get the best sleep last night just thinking about all that.
“So to come out this morning and have some energy and play really well, I’m just proud of that.”
Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman, who were already out of playoff contention heading into their final round-robin match, defeats Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Hurlimann 8-4 and closes the tournament with a 4-5 record.
Canada caught a break when Schwaller-Huerlimann had a hog-line violation with her final throw in the fifth end. Switzerland could have scored multiple points on its power play but instead gave up a steal.
Gallant and Peterman raised their shooting percentage to 90 per cent. Gallant was perfect with his eight hits and led all players at 97 per cent overall.
“The last thing you want to do is lose your last game of an event because that’s usually the one that you remember the most,” said Canada coach Scott Pfeifer. “So I’m just super proud of Brett and Jocelyn and the way they always handled everything professionally and never gave up.”
Switzerland also missed the playoffs at 4-5. Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds finished on top of the table at 8-1.
Gallant is doing double duty in Cortina. He’ll shift focus to the four-player game as he reunites with the Calgary-based men’s team skipped by Brad Jacobs.
The Ottawa-based rink skipped by Rachel Homan will wear the Maple Leaf in the women’s team event.
Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris won gold when mixed doubles made its Olympic debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in South Korea. Homan and Morris missed the playoffs at the 2022 Games in Beijing.
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