Curling-Canada women beat US to win bronze

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 21 : Canada beat the United States 10-7 to claim women's curling bronze at the Winter Olympics on Saturday, as skip Rachel Homan ended her long wait for a Games medal.

Homan punched the air and embraced teammate Tracy Fleury after her counterpart Tabitha Peterson conceded with one throw remaining.

For Canada, the bronze was their first medal in the women's event since the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, when Jennifer Jones's team won gold.

While the colour might not be what Homan hoped for, seeing as her team were strong favourites for gold heading into the Games, it is still a testament to their incredible performances in the last Olympic cycle.

They have won the last two world championships, beating their closest rivals and four-times world champions Switzerland in both finals, and won three consecutive Grand Slam titles last year.

However, Homan's record at the Olympics had been poor.

She participated in the past two Games, finishing sixth as skip of the women's team in 2018 and once again ending up outside the qualification spots for the semi-finals in the mixed doubles in 2022.

CLOSE AFFAIR

Saturday's clash was a much closer affair than the men's, in which Switzerland blew Norway away, with both teams limiting each other's scoring opportunities to leave the game tied at 2-2 after four ends.

The tide appeared to turn in Canada's favour in the sixth end when U.S. skip Tabitha Peterson made inadequate contact with a Canadian stone and left Homan with a simple takeout shot for three points and a 5-3 lead.

Peterson did not let the setback affect her and produced an incredible draw for two in the next end to level at 5-5, a shot that drew applause from both sets of supporters at the Cortina Curling