Surprise! US women's curling team beats Canada for first time at an Olympic Games

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CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The U.S. women's curling team was surprised to learn that their defeat of Canada on Friday marked an Olympic first.

“If that's true," caveated Minneapolis native Taylor Anderson-Heide said after the 9-8 nailbiter, "I think we just played a really good game. They're No. 1 in the world.”

Tara Peterson of Shoreview, Minnesota, chimed in: “It just always feels really good to beat (Canada skip) Rachel Homan. So any team to beat them, that’s pretty impressive."

Until Friday, the American women had never beaten Canada -- a perennial favorite that has medaled in every Winter Games since curling was added to the Olympics in 1998. The U.S. men beat the Canadians for the first time in the 2018 round-robin and again in the semifinals en route to their gold medal victory in Pyeongchang.

Canada’s Team Homan has for years been considered the best in the world.

In Friday’s match, the U.S. managed to capitalize on a few weak shots by Canada. After the win, the Americans walked together down the ice and back to their coaches, raising fists in triumph.

Peterson, like Anderson-Heide, couldn’t help but add a qualifier to her response to questions from The Associated Press: “Apparently, we’ve never beat them in the Olympics before. That makes it just extra special.”

This year's American women's curling team — like their Gen-Z men's counterparts — meld approachability with ambition. Alongside Anderson-Heide and Peterson, the team includes skip Tabitha Peterson, who's Tara's older sister, as well as cool-as-a-cucumber Cory Thiesse, who has already won a silver medal in the mixed doubles event. Aileen Geving, from Minnesota, is an alternate.

Three of them have jobs other than curling, and three are mothers to young children. Tara is a dentist, Tabitha a pharmacist and Thiesse a lab technician.

Tara gave birth to her son, Eddie, in September 2024 and a few months later, Tabitha had a daughter, Noelle. Geving had daughter Sienna following the 2018 Games.

They have several matches left in the round-robin before the semifinals next Friday. The are 2-1 after Friday's match, with a win against Korea and loss to Sweden alongside the milestone.

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This story has been corrected to show the U.S. men beat Canada in 2018 semifinal, not final, in 4th paragraph.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics