The 2022 Olympic Winter Games got underway on Wednesday from Beijing with mixed doubles curling. There were four games that took place, with the United States on the ice.
The American squad of Vicky Persinger of Fairbanks, Alaska, and Chris Plys of Duluth, Minnesota defeated the Australian duo of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt by a narrow score of 6-5. It was an impressive comeback for the Americans as they were trailing 5-3 after six ends before the United States picked up a deuce in the seventh end to tie the contest and then won the game in the eighth end with a steal.
Plys is also the new third for the United States in men’s curling. The Americans are the reigning Olympic gold medalists from the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Four years ago, the United States shocked the curling world with a 5-3 win over Canada in the semifinals, and a 10-7 win over Sweden in the gold medal game. The gold medal performance for Team USA was curling’s version of the Miracle on Ice, as Shuster was not even expected to contend for an Olympic medal, and he came away with gold.
Other results in mixed doubles curling on Wednesday had Great Britain over Sweden 9-5, the Czech Republic over Norway 7-6, and China over Switzerland 7-6. Great Britain was the betting favourite prior to the start of the Olympic mixed doubles tournament (+225), as Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat of Edinburgh, Scotland were the reigning World Champions. Last year in Aberdeen, Scotland, Dodds and Mouat beat the Norwegian duo of Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten 9-7.
The Chinese win over Switzerland was a bit of a surprise, The Swiss duo of Jenny Perret and Martin Rios are mixed doubles specialists as they are the reigning Olympic silver medalists and won the gold medal at the 2017 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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