Curling, the fan-favorite Winter Olympic sport that sweeps the globe every four years, returns to the spotlight with men’s team, women’s team and mixed doubles events taking place at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Competition begins with round-robin play, in which each team (or “rink”) squares off against the other once. Those with the four-best records move on to the semifinals and then the gold medal or bronze medal game.
Three rinks will represent the United States, all of whom are underdogs but have demonstrated the ability to perform well under immense pressure.
Team Casper dethroned the king of American curling, John Shuster — who led his squad to gold in a Cinderella Story at the 2018 Games and had participated in five straight Winter Olympics — at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in November and punched their tickets to Milan Cortina a month later at the Olympic Qualification Event (OQE).
Led by skip (the rink’s captain) Danny Casper, the Olympic neophytes will face their toughest challenge yet on the biggest stage, but already have proven they can hang with the world’s elite. Team Mouat of Great Britain and defending Olympic gold medalists Team Edin of Sweden are among the favorites on the men’s side.
Team Peterson returns to the Games for its second straight Winter Olympics. The rink decimated the field at the U.S. Team Trials, and like Team Casper, secured its Olympic berth at the OQE.
Composed of skip Tabitha Peterson, her sister Tara Peterson, dual-event Olympian Cory Thiesse and Taylor Anderson-Heide, the 2025 national champions are known for their poise and calm in big spots. Team Homan of Canada, the reigning world champions, will be a difficult obstacle to clear.
Thiesse is pulling double duty in Milan Cortina, partnering with Korey Dropkin to represent the U.S. in mixed doubles. The two-athlete squad won the world championships in 2023 and finished fifth in the event this year, which was enough to qualify them for the Winter Olympics.
They’ll encounter fierce competition, particularly in the form of Italy’s own Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, who went undefeated en route to a gold medal in Beijing and then dominated the 2025 World Championships, posting a flawless 11-0 record. They’ve never lost in international competition.