Germany earn first win of Olympic Winter Games

After pushing Canada all the way to an extra end in their opener on Wednesday, Germany carved out their first win so far with a 5-4 victory over Norway in Thursday afternoon’s round-robin session.

The Germans blanked the first end but then gave up a single steal in the second when their skip Marc Muskatewitz’s take-out attempt was unsuccessful.

Marc Muskatewitz, Germany © World Curling / Celine Stucki

However, he more than made up for it in the third end when he played an angled promotion take-out into a busy house to score three points and move onto a 3-1 lead.

Norway then blanked the fourth end and scored a single in the fifth when their skip Magnus Ramsfjell took out a scoring German stone. The teams went into the break with Germany holding a slender 3-2 lead.

Magnus Ramsfjell, Norway © World Curling / Celine Stucki

The game stayed tight throughout the second half, and in the eighth end Germany were lying six counters until Magnus Ramsfjell was forced to play a precise draw to the button to score one.

Eventually, in the tenth, with Germany holding a 5-3 lead, Norway faced three German stones. Norway’s Ramsfjell then played a promotion take-out, but could only score one point from the end, to give the Germans their 5-4 win.

After this German skip Marc Muskatewitz declared himself happy with progress so far, “We’re really happy with the team performance. We had a really good game yesterday and we wanted to step up in this game.”

Johannes Scheuerl and Felix Messenzehl, Germany © World Curling / Celine Stucki

He acknowledged how crucial the score of three in the third end had been, saying, “We got an early lead and so we just wanted to keep that lead and play consistently. We just wanted to make the scoreboard as comfortable as possible — giving up one and taking one — and that finally came down to our last chance.”

The German tactics in this game clearly worked out, as Marc re-affirmed: “We’re just trying to make it as comfortable as possible on the ice.

Team Germany wave to the crowd after their game © World Curling / Celine Stucki

There were only three games in this session, including Switzerland facing United States of America. This game was tight in the first half, with Switzerland going into the break holding a one-point lead, at 3-2.

But after this, Switzerland’s fourth player Benoit Schwarz-van Berkel was able to draw for three points in the sixth to take a 6-2 lead.

Benoit Schwarz-van Berkel, Switzerland © World Curling / Celine Stucki

In the seventh end, American skip Daniel Casper was facing three Swiss stones when he attempted a raise take-out. However, he was unsuccessful, handing Switzerland a steal of two more points and a comfortable 8-2 lead. With the eventual result now clear, the Americans brought on their alternate player, 54-year-old Rich Ruohonen, who is the oldest USA Olympic Winter Olympian at Milano Cortina 2026. Switzerland went on to win their opening game by 8-3.

Afterwards, their skip Yannick Schwaller said, “The goal is to really enjoy these Olympics and all our games. I guess we’re doing that. We’re focussing on things that will make us better than in the last few Championships. Things like communication — trying to be as precise as we can be. Technically, throwing-wise we’ve always been very good, so we want to work on those other things.”

Yannick Schwaller, Switzerland © World Curling / Celine Stucki

The third game of this session was a re-run of the 2022 Olympic final between Sweden and Great Britain.

Great Britain opened the scoring in the first end of this game, with a draw for two points by skip Bruce Mouat, and never looked back. They went on to win by 6-3 in eight ends. This puts Great Britain clear at the top of the table, on two wins and no losses, while Sweden, who are still looking for a first win, sit at the foot.