Canada's women's curling team eliminated after loss to Great Britain
Canada's women's curling team, led by skip Rachel Homan, lost 6-5 to Great Britain in round-robin play, officially ending its hopes of qualifying for the playoffs at PyeongChang 2018.
This marks the first time since women's curling was introduced at the Winter Olympics in 1998 that a team from Canada will leave the games without a medal.
Homan's rink carried a 4-2 lead into the eighth end, but Great Britain responded with the hammer, tying the game. Canada managed to score one the following end, but Great Britain, possessing the hammer in the 10th end, did enough to knock Homan and Co. out.
"I think it's tough, but the field is really steep. There are really good teams. It's definitely a really competitive field from the women's side," Homan told CBC shortly after the loss.
"I mean, we gave it our all. We were Canada's best and we came up a little bit short. We left everything out there and tried our hardest, and it was just a little bit not enough."
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea | 7-1 |
| 2 | Sweden | 6-2 |
| 3 | Great Britain | 6-3 |
| 4 | Japan | 5-3 |
| 5 | United States | 4-4 |
| 6 | China | 4-5 |
| 7 | Canada | 3-5 |
| 7 | Switzerland | 3-5 |
| 9 | Olympic Athletes from Russia | 2-6 |
| 10 | Denmark | 1-7 |
Canada shocked the curling world by starting the tournament 0-3. Following the sluggish start, the group bounced back with three straight wins. A crucial loss to China set up a must-win game against the Brits, with Homan's rink failing to capitalize.
As is always the case with Canada and curling at the Olympics, the women's team entered PyeongChang 2018 with lofty expectations. Homan's rink snapped a nine-year world title drought in 2017 by becoming the first team in history to go a perfect 13-0 at the World Women's Curling Championship in Beijing, China. The group was also coming off a championship finish at the 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, making Homan the only skip to lead her team to three titles (2013, 2014, and 2017) at the event.