Geving, U.S. women's curling team wins bronze at Worlds

May 11—CALGARY, Alberta — The United States team took home one prize for the present and one for the future from the recently-concluded women's curling world championship Sunday.

First, the U.S. defeated Sweden 9-5 for the bronze medal on Sunday, and second, the American team's finish ensured a place for an American team to be determined at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The bronze is the first medal for an American team at the Worlds since 2006 and the first of that particular color after a gold in 2003 and five silvers.

The team, skipped by Tabitha Peterson of St. Paul, includes Nina Roth of McFarland, Wis., Becca Hamilton of McFarland, Wis., Tara Peterson of Eagan, Minn., and Aileen Geving of Duluth. Geving served as the alternate and did not get into any of the tournament games.

The U.S. team went 7-6 in the round-robin phase, finishing in fifth due to wins over Canada and South Korea, who finished with the same record. They then eliminated Denmark 8-7 in the first playoff game before a 7-3 defeat to eventual champion Switzerland in the semifinals.

Switzerland, which had a rare eight-ender (the maximum possible score) in a round-robin match vs. Denmark, defeated the team representing Russia 4-2 for its sixth world championship in the last nine tournaments. The bonspiel was originally scheduled to be in Switzerland before it was moved to the same Calgary 'bubble' in which the men's worlds were recently held due to COVID-19 transmission in Europe.

All six teams that qualified for the playoff phase, Switzerland, the team representing Russia, Sweden, Denmark, the U.S. and Canada, guaranteed places for their countries at the 2022 Olympics by virtue of their finish. The American team for those Olympics will be determined by a trials bonspiel at Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska in November.