U.S. women’s curling team slides to victory over Canada in an Olympic first
The U.S. women’s curling team was surprised to learn that its loss to Canada on Friday marked a Olympic First of all.
“If that’s true,” Minneapolis native Taylor Anderson-Heide said after the 9-8 score, “I think we just played a really good game. They’re No. 1 in the world.”
Tara Peterson of Shoreview, Minn., added: “It’s always a good feeling to beat (Canadian captain) Rachel Homan. So any team that beats them, it’s pretty impressive.”
Until Friday, the American women had never beaten Canada – a perennial favorite that has won a medal at every Winter Games since curling was added to the Olympics in 1998. The American men first beat the Canadians in the 2018 round-robin and again in the semifinals en route to their gold medal in Pyeongchang.
The Canadian Homan team has been considered the best in the world for years.
Misper Apawu / AP 
In Friday’s match, the United States was able to capitalize on some weak shots from Canada. After the victory, the Americans walked onto the ice together and returned to their coaches, raising their fists in triumph.
Peterson, like Anderson-Heide, couldn’t help but add a qualifier to his response to questions from The Associated Press: “Apparently we’ve never beaten them in the Olympics before. That makes it even more special.”
This year’s U.S. women’s curling team, like their Gen Z male counterparts, combines accessibility with ambition. Alongside Anderson-Heide and Peterson, the team includes captain Tabitha Peterson, Tara’s older sister, as well as the cool-as-a-cucumber Cory Thiesse, who previously won a silver medal in mixed doubles. Minnesota’s Aileen Geving is an alternate.
Three of them have jobs other than curling and three are mothers of young children. Tara is a dentist, Tabitha a pharmacist and Thiesse a laboratory technician.
Tara gave birth to her son, Eddie, in September 2024 and a few months later, Tabitha had a daughter, Noelle. Geving had a daughter Sienna after the 2018 Games.
“That’s the cool thing about the sport of curling. An average Joe plays against Olympians and we’re friends,” Tara Peterson told CBS News Minnesota before the Olympic Games. “And after the game we sit around, we eat dinner. We have a beer. It’s just normal life.”
Tabitha Peterson told CBS News Minnesota that she views the Olympics “as just another tournament.”
“It’s another competition. And try not to focus like, oh my God, we’re at the Olympics,” she said.
They have several preliminary round matches remaining before the semi-finals next Friday. They are 2-1 after Friday’s match, with a win against Korea and a loss against Sweden on top of the milestone.
