Canada's Homan, Morris' medal hopes come to halt with extra end loss to Italy in mixed doubles curling

Canadian mixed doubles curling duo Rachel Homan and John Morris' hopes of an Olympic title defence came to a sudden halt on Monday in Beijing with an 8-7 extra end loss to Italy's Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner.

In what has been a dramatic 24 hours for the duo from Ottawa, the pressure fell on Homan to make the final throw of the game with the button open and a chance to score and win it.

Her throw nestled up against the Italians' rock and a measurement gave the win to Italy by the slightest of margins.

With Italy up 5-4 after six ends, Mosaner did not help his team's case with a clearing to open the door for Canada to take advantage. On Italy's final throw, Constantini was able to get a double take-out but not quite get every rock, as Homan got a draw on the hammer to score three points and take a 7-5 lead with the powerplay.

In the eighth, Italy was able to send the game to an extra end with two points after Canada's final stone didn't get far enough in the house to score any points. That left Constantini to get a draw to capitalize on one stone already in the house during the powerplay.

Morris had won gold in 2018 with Kaitlyn Lawes in the first Olympics to hold mixed doubles curling as an event.