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Tara Peterson of Shoreview, Minnesota, chimed in: “It just
always feels really good to beat (Canada skip) Rachel Homan. So
any team to beat them, that’s pretty impressive."
Until Friday, the American women had never beaten Canada -- a
perennial favorite that has medaled in every Winter Games since
curling was added to the Olympics in 1998. The U.S. men beat the
Canadians for the first time in the 2018 round-robin and again
in the semifinals en route to their gold medal victory in
Pyeongchang.
Canada’s Team Homan has for years been considered the best in
the world.
In Friday’s match, the U.S. managed to capitalize on a few weak
shots by Canada. After the win, the Americans walked together
down the ice and back to their coaches, raising fists in
triumph.
Peterson, like Anderson-Heide, couldn’t help but add a qualifier
to her response to questions from The Associated Press:
“Apparently, we’ve never beat them in the Olympics before. That
makes it just extra special.”
This year's American women's curling team — like their Gen-Z
men's counterparts — meld approachability with ambition.
Alongside Anderson-Heide and Peterson, the team includes skip
Tabitha Peterson, who's Tara's older sister, as well as
cool-as-a-cucumber Cory Thiesse, who has already won a silver
medal in the mixed doubles event. Aileen Geving, from Minnesota,
is an alternate.
Three of them have jobs other than curling, and three are
mothers to young children. Tara is a dentist, Tabitha a
pharmacist and Thiesse a lab technician.
Tara gave birth to her son, Eddie, in September 2024 and a few
months later, Tabitha had a daughter, Noelle. Geving had
daughter Sienna following the 2018 Games.
They have several matches left in the round-robin before the
semifinals next Friday. The are 2-1 after Friday's match, with a
win against Korea and loss to Sweden alongside the milestone.
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