For the first time in Olympic history, the United States has defeated Canada in women’s curling.
In a dramatic 9–8 thriller at the Winter Olympics Milan Cortina 2026, Team USA broke Canada’s 8-0 Olympic stranglehold over the Americans, stunning the two-time defending world champions and tournament favorites in one of the most memorable round-robin games of the Games so far.
A 10th-End finish for the ages, Trailing 8–7 entering the final end, the U.S. needed something special — and they got it. On the Americans’ fourth shot of the 10th, Tara Peterson delivered a momentum-shifting runback. Sliding into the hack, Peterson fired her stone into a Canadian guard, running it back and clearing three Canadian rocks from play. As the stones scattered, she raised her arms and pumped up a raucous crowd that sensed history in the making.
With U.S. stones sitting on opposite sides of the eight-foot, longtime Canadian skip Rachel Homan needed a double takeout on her final shot. Homan removed the first American rock cleanly — but narrowly missed the second.
That miss opened the door. U.S. skip Tabitha Peterson calmly stepped in and drew to the button for two, sealing a 9–8 victory and completing a historic comeback.
The Americans had to earn it the hard way. They held hammer just once in the first half, scoring a single in the third and stealing another in the fourth. Canada entered the break ahead 3–2 and appeared in control.
But the game flipped in the sixth end. With four U.S. rocks spread across the house, Homan’s final attempt only removed one stone before rolling out of play. That left an open draw for Peterson, who capitalized with four points — giving Team USA its first lead of the game and igniting belief on the American bench.
Canada quickly responded. After eliminating a U.S. draw in the seventh, the Canadians clawed back two. In the eighth, Homan executed a successful double takeout, but the U.S. opted to take a single point rather than blank the end, moving ahead 7–5 entering the ninth.
Peterson narrowly missed a double on her final stone in the ninth, leaving Canada sitting two. Homan capitalized with a draw to the button for three, reclaiming an 8–7 advantage and setting up the decisive 10th end drama.
Coming into the matchup, Canada not only owned an unbeaten Olympic record against the U.S., but also entered Cortina as heavy favorites after back-to-back world titles. The Americans’ breakthrough victory signals that the power balance may be shifting.
With the win, Team USA improves to 2–1 in round-robin play and now sits tied for third in the standings — firmly in the medal conversation.
USA vs Japan on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET, as the Americans look to build on the biggest Olympic win in program history.
For one afternoon in Cortina, history belonged to the United States.
