Winter Olympics 2018: Canada men's curling falls to United States, ending gold medal run

John Arlia

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Winter Olympics 2018: Canada men's curling falls to United States, ending gold medal run image

For the first time since 2002, Canada men's curling will not be standing on top of the Olympic podium.

Kevin Koe's rink fell to the United States 5-3 in Thursday's semifinal round, ending the nation's hope for a fourth straight gold medal.

After beating the Canadians in the preliminary round, the Americans proved that their extra-end win wasn't a fluke as they advanced to their first ever Olympic gold medal game in men's curling in another tightly contested match.

After a scoreless first end, the two teams traded singles in the following four ends, heading to the break tied 2-2. It remained that way until the eighth end, when John Shuster's team seized control.

Shuster put the Americans in position to steal two with his team's final stone of the end and Koe failed to take advantage of the final shot, giving the U.S. a 4-2 lead.

Koe had a chance to tie the game in the ninth end with a final shot for two, but could only manage a single to cut the deficit in half. 

The Americans, who had the hammer in the final end, responded with a single of their own to claim the historic win.

“This is no miracle on ice,” Shuster said after the game, which happened to be played on the 38th anniversary of the United States' famous hockey win over the Soviet Union. “We’re a great team that’s on a roll. Seriously, I’ve always felt this team was the beginning of something great.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Koe was understandably disappointed with the result, but said his team wants to leave Pyeongchang with a medal.

“It matters," Koe said of the bronze medal game. "We don’t want to go home empty handed. It’s obviously not the game we wanted to be in.”

The Canadians will play Switzerland in the bronze medal game on Friday morning at 1:35 a.m. ET.

 

John Arlia