The United States has a storied history of great performances on ice in the Winter Olympics, including the Miracle on Ice, Kristi Yamaguchi's 1992 performance in figure skating and Apolo Ohno's gold medals in speed skating.
Friday's effort by the U.S. mixed doubles curling team of Matt and Becca Hamilton was not one of them.
And the US mixed doubles curling team has been mercy-ruled by Korea, which wins 9-1 after six ends. This is not a proud moment.
— Winter Olympics Expert (@PaulMyerberg) February 9, 2018
For the uninitiated, the Korean curling team had a lead on the Hamilton siblings so large that the Wisconsin duo could not mathematically catch up. Even if they wanted to play until the end, it's considered unsportsmanlike for a team that is losing badly to not concede in curling.
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The loss Friday marked the U.S. team's third loss so far in these Olympics, and the second one of the day. The Hamiltons lost earlier to Switzerland 9-4, in incredibly rare fashion.
Just perfect! Swiss curlers get coveted six-ender to beat US. How rare is that? Think a perfect game in baseball. @KristenGelineau https://t.co/9J0P2THKkH
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) February 9, 2018
Mixed doubles curling is still in the round-robin stage, which means the U.S. is not out of contention yet. But the Hamiltons' performance on Day 2 certainly did not do them any favors.