The United States women’s curling team still has three matches remaining in the round-robin session of the 2026 Winter Olympics. However, Team USA may not earn a more thrilling win than its comeback victory over China on Sunday.
The team of Tabitha Peterson, Cory Thiesse, Tara Peterson and Taylor Anderson-Heide fell behind 4-1 after the fifth end. But the rally began with a 2-0 win in the fifth, cutting the match deficit to 4-3. The U.S. comeback appeared to be stanched with China expanding its lead to 5-3 heading into the seventh end. Yet that just set up an impressive comeback during the next three ends.
“We just had to stick with it,” said Tara Peterson, the Team USA skip (via NBC Sports). “We had a good team meeting at the fifth end break of what we needed to do to flip it around for us for the second half, and we got more energy and our draw speed got a little bit better, and we kind of kept the pressure on them to make some tough shots.”
With that added energy, Team USA stole the point in the ninth and 10th ends for an improbable win. And the Americans pulled off the victory with a stirring comeback, creating one of the most spectacular victories in U.S. curling memory
Still down 5-4 going into the ninth end, Rui Wang missed on her attempt to knock a U.S. stone out of the button. That allowed Team USA to steal the point and tie the match at 5-5 going into the 10th end. From there, the best was truly saved for last.
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China had the hammer going into the final end and built a virtual fortress of stones around the button. But Tabitha Peterson somehow managed to maneuver through the traffic with a deft touch to make it difficult for Wang to thread the proverbial needle with her next throw.
Unfortunately for China, Wang didn’t get enough of a push, leaving her stone at the back of the house. That opened an opportunity for Peterson to lay her stone closest to the center, stealing the point and a win for the U.S.
“I think it says a lot about our team. We’re not going to give up,” Peterson said after the match, via Olympics.com. “Just keep the game tight, and anything can happen, even if it’s a steal in the last end.”
After six sessions in round-robin play, the U.S. is second in the standings at 4-1. Only Sweden is ahead with a 5-0 record and Switzerland is right behind Team USA at 3-1. The Swiss face Great Britain on Monday at 3:05 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the U.S. will face home country Italy earlier in the day at 1:05 p.m. ET.