Sweden continued its impressive Olympic curling medal haul by scoring its first-ever mixed doubles gold Tuesday at the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium.
Isabella Wrana and her brother Rasmus, the 2024 world champions, defeated the crowd-pleasing USA pairing of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin by a score of 6-5 in the championship final.
Rasmus Wrana is the defending Olympic men’s team champion as a second with skip Niklas Edin.
Four years ago in Beijing, his men’s teammate Oskar Eriksson won Olympic bronze in mixed doubles, becoming the first male curling athlete to win two medals at one Games.
They also took silver four years earlier in PyeongChang, after USA, with skip John Shuster, took the infamous five-ender in an upset.
Isabella Wrana, who skips the No. 2-ranked women’s team in Sweden, will finally make her debut appearance representing her country at the world championships next month.
USA played a great game, too • Michael Madrid-Imagn ImagesHer rivals, the Anna Hasselborg squad, won Olympic bronze at Beijing and gold four years earlier in PyeongChang.
Both the Edin and Hasselborg teams will compete in team fours play in Cortina.
The tactical battle saw Wrana make a delightful draw for two points in the fourth end for a 3-2 lead.
An American runback attempt by Dropkin in the fifth end went awry, prompting the Minnesotan to remark “That is not okay.”
Tied 3-3 in the sixth frame, two misses from Rasmus Wrana made up for earlier American snafus, and Isabella Wrana had just enough weight for a successful button-tap for one.
Just enough • CBC OlympicsNerves kicked in on the seventh end, as USA’s Thiesse – with the power play – was heavy on an open draw to set up the end. A bullet throw from Erasmus Wrana resulted in an unlikely jammed stone in the back 12-foot rings, suddenly leaving three U.S. points a possibility.
Dropkin’s last throw of the end was a perfect hit and roll to lie three, and he asked the crowd for applause, as he had done multiple times during the competition.
Isabella Wrana, however, threw her first hit of the game for a perfect double, holding USA to a deuce and a 5-4 lead coming home.
The table was set for a gold medal finish. Dropkin, on his next-to-last stone came a touch heavy, opening a door for Rasmus Wrana, who came light and created an in-house runback combination for Thiessen’s final stone.
The throw was a touch wide, which poked a U.S. stone out from behind cover and three-quarters open, and Isabella Wrana made the hit for two and the 6-5 victory.
Michael Madrid-Imagn ImagesWrana shot a scintillating 97% in the match.
Earlier in the week, the Swedes lost three straight game and risked missing the playoffs – but they dug deep and won out for the gold.
Sweden dispatched Great Britain and USA upended hosts Italy in Monday night’s semifinal round.
The Italians, champions at Beijing 2022, won the bronze medal over Great Britain in an earlier Tuesday slugfest.
About the Author
