Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Britain qualify for men's curling semifinals at Olympics

Audio By Carbonatix

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO (AP) — Canada will play Norway and Switzerland will play Britain Thursday in the men's curling semifinals at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

The face-off between Canada and Norway will be a repeat of the morning’s game, when Norway beat Canada 8-6.

Speaking after the match, Canadian curler Brad Jacobs said it felt like “deja vu from Sochi,” when at the 2014 Games Canada played China both in its last round-robin match and then the semifinal. Canada beat China and went on to win gold and is hoping for the same result tonight.

“We're experienced with this, done this lot,” Jacobs said. “Hopefully, we can get off to a better start tonight.”

On the women's side, Sweden and Switzerland have already qualified for the semifinals. The other spots are still up for grabs and will be decided by games on Thursday afternoon.

The men's semifinals are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The women's semifinals are set for Friday at 2:05 p.m. All times are local.

Here's a quick breakdown.

Switzerland is undefeated going into the semis. It will play Britain, which has won 5 games and lost 4, and managed to sneak into the semifinals after Canada's loss to Norway.

“I would say it’s just a very good atmosphere in our group right now,” said Yannick Schwaller, who leads the Swiss men, after their final win of the round robin. “Everybody is buying into what we’re doing,” he said.

He added that taking on Glenn Howard, the acclaimed Canadian curler, as a coach, had also been a key ingredient of their success.

Meanwhile, the hopes of the U.S. men' s team, which was counting on a Canada win to get them to the semis, were dashed.

Sweden, the defending gold medalists, are out of contention.

The men’s bronze medal match will be on Friday at 7:05 p.m. The gold medal match will be Saturday at the same time.

Sweden is in the lead in the women's field going into the semifinals. It has won 7 games and lost two, to Korea and Canada.

Switzerland, just behind, has played one fewer game than Sweden. It has won six games and lost two, to Japan and Sweden.

Behind them, Canada, Korea and the U.S. are tied for third place, each having won five games and lost three. The final two spots in the semifinals are up for grabs. There will be one more round of play at 2:05 p.m. Thursday, before the semifinals.

The women's bronze medal game is set for 2:05 p.m. Saturday, and the gold medal game is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. Sunday.

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics