Historic Victory for U.S. Women’s Curling Team
In a stunning revelation, members of the United States women’s curling team were informed by reporters from the Associated Press that their recent victory over Canada at the Olympics was a historic milestone. This marked the first time the American women had bested their northern rivals in Olympic competition since women’s curling was introduced in 1998.
Player Reactions
Minneapolis native Taylor Anderson-Heide expressed her disbelief, commenting,
“If that’s true, I think we just played a really good game. They’re No. 1 in the world.”
Tara Peterson, another player from Shoreview, Minnesota, echoed this sentiment, stating,
“It just always feels really good to beat Rachel Homan, the skip for Canada. For any team to defeat them is quite an achievement.”
She added a note of surprise, saying,
“Apparently, we’ve never beaten them in the Olympics before, which makes it all the more special.”
Match Highlights
Despite the victory being somewhat unexpected for the athletes, the record backs up the report. Until now, in every Olympic matchup since 1998, the U.S. women’s team had failed to secure a win against Canada, who has long been regarded as the world’s finest curling squad. This particular match, which ended 9-8, saw the Americans successfully take advantage of several missteps made by the Canadian team.
Following the nail-biting competition, the victorious team walked together down the ice, fists raised in celebration. Peterson noted that the Canadian players seemed to miss their usual sharpness during the game.
Team Dynamics
The U.S. women’s team features an interesting mix of personalities and backgrounds. Besides Anderson-Heide and Peterson, the lineup includes skip Tabitha Peterson, who is Tara’s older sister, along with Cory Thiesse, who won a silver medal in mixed doubles earlier this year. Aileen Geving from Minnesota serves as the alternate. Notably, three of the members balance their curling careers with jobs—Tara is a dentist, Tabitha works as a pharmacist, and Thiesse is a lab technician—while also managing family lives; all three are mothers to young children.
Personal Milestones
This year has been particularly eventful for the Peterson sisters, as Tara welcomed her son, Eddie, into the world in September 2024, followed by Tabitha giving birth to her daughter, Noelle, and Geving welcoming her daughter, Sienna, shortly after the 2018 Games.
Looking Ahead
As they head into the semifinals, the U.S. team has a record of two wins against Korea and Canada, along with one loss to Sweden, with several matches still left in the round-robin phase before the tournament’s climactic finale.
