Team USA Women’s Curling Stunned By Great Britain, Can They Still Take Gold?

Getty

Team USA’s women’s curling team came within one point of clinching a spot in the Olympic medal round before a late collapse changed everything.

The United States fell 8-7 to Great Britain on Wednesday at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The Americans carried a one-point lead into the 10th end and held the hammer, but Great Britain stole two points on the final end to secure the win and keep its playoff hopes alive.

The loss dropped Team USA to 5-3 in round-robin play and left its path to the semifinals uncertain.

Great Britain’s Late Steal Shocks Team USA

Great Britain needed a win to remain in medal contention and delivered one of the tournament’s defining moments.

On the final stone of the match, Great Britain skip Rebecca Morrison banked her shot off a wide blocking stone and rolled it perfectly into scoring position. The throw knocked a U.S. stone out of the button and secured a two-point steal.

Team GB’s 8-7 victory revived its playoff chances and prevented the United States from nearly locking up advancement.

“Miracle? Maybe not,” Morrison told Olympics.com about the decisive shot. “But real tough and you miss that more than you make it, I reckon, so I’m absolutely delighted.”

Morrison added about the team’s final round-robin matchup, “We just want those five wins, no matter if it means we make playoffs or not. We want five wins, so going to go out there and do all we can.”

With their final opportunity, U.S. skip Tabitha Peterson attempted to scatter Great Britain’s scoring stones but instead hit a guard and sent it wide.

“They made a great shot,” Peterson told NBC. “I’d say maybe you make that less than 50% of the time. It’s a tough shot. So yeah, I mean, kudos to them.”

USA’s Women’s Curling Team Playoff Scenarios Explained

Despite the loss, Team USA remains in contention for the semifinals. The top four teams in the round robin advance.

Through Wednesday’s matches, the standings are:

1. Sweden (7-2)
2. T-2. Switzerland (6-2)
3. T-3. USA (5-3)
4. T-3. South Korea (5-3)
5. T-3. Canada (5-3)
6. Great Britain (4-4)
7. Denmark (4-5)
8. T-8. China (2-6)
9. T-8. Italy (2-6)
10. Japan (1-7)

Team Peterson, which includes Peterson, Tara Peterson, Cory Thiesse and Taylor Anderson-Heide, can still clinch a semifinal berth with a win over second-place Switzerland in Thursday’s final round-robin game. A Great Britain loss to Italy would also secure the Americans’ advancement.

If the United States loses its final game and Great Britain wins, the situation becomes more complicated. Canada’s result against South Korea would also come into play, and the last semifinal spot could come down to draw shot challenge totals — a cumulative measurement from throughout the tournament. Right now, Great Britain ranks first in that category, South Korea is third, and Team USA is seventh. That means the Americans would likely be at a disadvantage in that scenario.

The loss was especially tough because Team USA controlled much of the match. Peterson tied it 2-2 in the fourth end with a draw into the button. The Americans took a 3-2 lead in the fifth and then scored three in the seventh to move ahead 6-4. They stole another point in the eighth to extend the lead to 7-4. Great Britain responded late, narrowing the gap and then stealing two points in the 10th end to secure the 8-7 win.

Team USA entered Wednesday one win away from reaching the medal round for the first time in women’s Olympic curling. That goal remains possible, but the margin for error is gone.