CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — A nerveless display from Isabella Wranaa helped Sweden win the mixed doubles curling gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics by beating the United States 6-5 on Tuesday.
Sweden is the second-most successful nation in curling at the Winter Olympics, but it had never previously won the top prize in mixed doubles, with Almida de Val and Oskar Eriksson’s bronze in 2022 their best previous effort in the format.
After limiting the United States pair of Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse to one point in the first end, Wranaa and her brother Rasmus, the 2024 world champions, took a 2-1 lead when Isabella deftly nestled a stone against another on the button.
The pairs traded a point apiece in the next two ends to leave Sweden up 3-2 at the halfway mark.
In identical fashion to their 9-3 win over Great Britain in the semifinal, Sweden deployed its powerplay with the score level at 3-3 in the sixth end.
However, unlike Monday’s match, in which the Swedes grabbed a game-winning five points, the tactic yielded just the one point and the U.S. hit back with two in the penultimate end to take a 5-4 lead.
MOMENTUM SHIFTING
The momentum seemed to be shifting in favor of the U.S. but Dropkin and Thiesse both slightly overcooked shots before the ever-reliable Isabella Wranaa sealed the win with a takeout on the final stone.
“I think it’s a perfect shot for me to have (last one), a takeout. But of course you’re nervous. Because it’s the last shot,” Isabella Wranaa said.
“And you know if you make it, it’s an Olympic gold. But I felt like we kept calm. We talked about how we’re going to throw it. I knew that I had a really strong sweeper. So it felt good.”
The Wranaas’ victory moves Sweden level with Canada with 12 total medals in curling, though Canada has one more gold.
The gold is Rasmus’ second, after he won the men’s competition in Beijing as the second on Niklas Edin’s team, whom he will link up with on Wednesday ahead of their match against Italy.
FIRST U.S. MIXED DOUBLES MEDAL
The silver medal was also the first for the U.S. in mixed doubles, which was added to the Olympic program in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
“We’re so proud of what we’ve been able to achieve here. Day 1 walking into this event, there’s 10 great teams out there that could have been on the podium and just so proud of how we hung in there every game,” Dropkin said.
“Every game was a battle. Hats off to Team Sweden. Rasmus and Isabella are amazing curlers, great people, good friends of ours.
“They showed up, made the right shots at the right time. We’re going to celebrate the silver medal because it’s a big accomplishment for USA Curling.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Italy’s Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini saw out a tense 5-3 win over Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat to add the bronze medal to their gold from four years ago.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
