The U.S. winning gold should give curling a big shot in the arm.
Curling in the United States could grow by leaps and bounds after the Americans captured curling gold in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
Superior’s John Shuster skipped the United States to a 10-7 win on Saturday for just the second curling medal in U.S. history and the first Gold Medal. Shuster was a part of the other one too, helping the Americans win a bronze medal at the 2006 Turin Games.
Shuster converted a double-takeout for a five-ender in the eighth end to give the Americans a 10-5 lead. Sweden scored two in the ninth, but the U.S. had the hammer in the tenth and Shuster played it safe, eventually leading to Sweden conceding defeat.
Sweden finished first in pool play with a 7-2 record while the Americans barely sneaked into the playoffs with a 5-4 record. The Americans had dropped four of their first six games before going on a run. The United States would win all of their remaining games from that point forward. The comeback would include a pair of wins over three-time defending champion Canada.
No U.S. curling team, men or women, had ever beaten Canada at the Olympics until Shuster’s squad (Shuster, Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, John Landsteiner and alternate Joe Polo) did it twice in one week.
So Sweden settles for the Silver Medal and Switzerland knocked off Canada for the Bronze.