Rachel Homan competes in the curling women's semi-final against Sweden on Friday.STEFANO RELLANDINI/AFP/Getty Images
Rachel Homan’s Canadian rink will refocus after huge heartbreak on Friday and compete for Olympic bronze.
The women’s curling team fell shy in a painful 6-3 semi-final loss to Anna Hasselborg’s Swedish rink, missing out on a spot in the gold-medal game in Cortina.
Homan’s rink shed some tears Friday, but they still have a shot at the Olympic podium, if they can take down the U.S. in Saturday’s bronze-medal contest (8 a.m. ET).
Sweden and Switzerland will play for gold on Sunday, after the Swiss toppled the Americans 7-4 in the other semi-final.
Homan came home empty-handed from her first two Olympics – missing the playoffs in the women’s event at Pyeongchang 2018 and in mixed doubles at Beijing 2022.
Second Emma Miskew, also played in the 2018 Games with Homan, while lead Sarah Wilkes and third Tracy Fleury are first-time Olympians. Together, the four have won back-to-back world championships and have become the No. 1 ranked team. Now, they want an Olympic medal.
Homan said making the podium at this point would mean “everything.”
“We’re just gonna go to school tomorrow, try and nail every single shot,” said the Canadian skip. “And fight hard for our country.”
After losing three straight games earlier in round-robin play, Team Homan had rallied to make the playoffs at the women’s Olympic bonspiel. But Friday’s semi-final loss to Sweden – the 2018 Olympic champs – will sting.
“We refocused after going 1-3, so we should be able to do this one,” said Miskew.
After Friday's loss to Sweden, Homan says the team is 'just gonna go to school tomorrow, try and nail every single shot.'Misper Apawu/The Associated Press
Canada had been one of two teams to beat Sweden in round-robin play this week in Cortina. But Hasselborg’s Swedish team was sharp on Friday while Homan’s wasn’t getting the shot placement it wanted.
The semi-final started out slow, with both teams trading singles and blank ends through five.
Tension began to build in the sixth end, after Homan’s tricky hit-and-roll didn’t quite work out quite as planned, and Sweden hit to score two.
“They cracked a multiple on us, and then we couldn’t really catch up,” said Miskew.
Then, facing a pile of rocks in the house with hammer in the seventh, Homan had a difficult angle on a takeout, and Sweden stole one to pull ahead by three.
The Canadians added a single in the eighth, before Hasselborg’s double takeout in the ninth gave Sweden back the three-point cushion.
Canada had hammer in the 10th, but the hole proved too big to overcome.
Next up: the U.S. The Canadians lost to Tabitha Peterson’s American rink during the early days of the Olympic round robin – the first time U.S women have ever beat Canada in curling at the Winter Games.
“Well, we beat them already, so might as well do it again,” said Peterson. “We have to have precise rock placement, because they will make those crazy doubles. We’ve just got to make sure we’re not setting those up for her.”
Homan said her team wouldn’t have a problem shaking off Friday’s loss.
“The game’s over. There’s nothing we can do about it,” said Canada’s skip. “Full focus on tomorrow.”
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