Team United States secure their Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 spot © World Curling

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World Curling Media

11 December 2025

United States’ Peterson claims final spot at the Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026

United States’ Tabitha Peterson grabbed the last available slot at the Olympic Games with an 8-4 win over Norway in the second play-off game.

After blanking the opening end, Norway’s fourth player Kristin Skaslien made an open draw for with three points to take an early lead.

American skip Tabitha Peterson responded in the third with a nose-hit for three, to level the game.

The fourth end was blanked again and then, in the fifth, Skaslien’s draw was a touch heavy, to give United States a steal of one and a 4-3 lead.

In the sixth, the Americans had a stone covering the button and frozen onto a Norwegian stone. This time Skaslien was wide and heavy with her final effort, to give up another single-point steal, moving the American lead to 5-3.

In the seventh end momentum began to swing when Skaslien was once again too heavy with her final draw, giving United States another steal for a 6-3 lead.

Norway bounced back in the eighth when Skaslien got around a guard and inside two American counters to score one and reduce the American lead to 6-4.

The Americans recovered from this and in the ninth, Peterson judged her last effort well to get past a front guard, tap-out a Norwegian stone for two more points and an 8-4 lead.

The Americans then ran Norway out of stones in the tenth to complete the 8-4 victory that puts them on the road to Cortina.

Speaking about going three down early in the game, United States skip Tabitha Peterson said, “we knew that if there was anything early like that, there was lots of time to battle back, and that’s just what we did.”

This performance qualifies Peterson for her third Olympic Games and about that, she said, “it’s very special, especially with this group of girls. I can’t wait to get there and perform and show the world what we can do.”

With Daniel Casper leading the American men to victory in their first play-off, and a Mixed Doubles position already assured, this American women’s win means that the United States will be represented in all three Olympic disciplines for the third time.