GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Aileen Geving has a strategy. She doesn’t look at the standings. But if she did, she would see that after defeating Denmark and China Monday, the United States Olympic women’s curling team has given itself a real shot to advance out of the round-robin tournament.
The top four teams advance to the semifinals. With two games to play, the U.S. has a 4-3 record, good for a tie for fourth place.
“I don’t know who needs to win and who needs to lose, I just know we need wins,” Geving said. “We’ve just got to keep our momentum.”
That momentum picked up considerably Monday when skip Nina Roth’s final shot in the 10th end lifted the United States to a dramatic 7-6 victory over Denmark. The Americans followed that up with a resounding 10-4 win over China.
“It’s nice to put two wins back together, it was our goal going into the day,” Roth said. “Everyone’s just getting sharper and sharper and more comfortable out there every single game, every single rock we throw.”
Team USA never gave China a chance in the second game, building up a 7-1 lead after three ends. The rest of the night was formality.
“I think we’re just really dialed in on the ice and the rocks and we’re just feeling it,” Geving said. “Curling is such a repetitive kind of thing. Once you’ve kind of gotten into a groove and got your speed figured out it’s just a matter of replicating it. It’s easy once you’ve got it.”
It may get harder in the next two days, as the U.S. faces powerful South Korea and Sweden.
The South Korean game will pose its own challenges because of the wild fan support.
“We just know it’s loud, they’re going to be cheering a lot, so just expect it.” Roth said. “But they’ll be cheering their shots. When we have our shots, they’ll be more quiet, so at least we won’t have any random “ahhhs” in the middle of our shooting.”
The U.S. never has won a medal in women’s curling. A few more days like Monday and that could change.
“I think we’re finally getting this ball moving here,” said Becca Hamilton, of McFarland, Wis. “We’re just going to have to keep playing like we did today. As long as we’re winning, I think we’ll make it.”