CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – Papered rocks and faster ice made things difficult in the morning session Saturday at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
There were no excuses for Canada in the evening draw.
Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill stormed out to a six-point lead and hung on for an 8-6 win over Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman. It was Canada’s third straight round-robin loss and essentially left the duo in must-win mode.
“You can’t really dig yourself a six-rip hole at the Olympics and expect it to be easy to come out of,” Gallant said.
Canada (3-3) fell into a fifth-place tie with three games remaining. The top four teams in the 10-team draw will qualify for the semifinals.
Earlier in the day, Gallant and Peterman dropped a 7-5 decision to Great Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat.
The Canadians looked to bounce back in the nightcap but struggled early and never really recovered.
Peterman wrecked on a guard and Estonia took advantage with a three-point first end. Gallant found a guard with his last throw in the second to set up a two-point steal.
Canada gave up another steal in the third end when Peterson’s in-off attempt was off the mark.
“I don’t think we can expect to go through this round without a few losses,” Gallant said. “We’re still in control of our own fate here.”
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Canada nearly pulled out a big end by using its power play in the fourth. Peterman tried a runback-double that had a chance to score five.
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With Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner playing on the side sheet, the home crowd roared just after Peterman released her stone. The Canadians had to pivot to hand signals and their rock hit a little thick, leaving just a pair.
Peterman made a delicate tap for three points in the sixth, but Estonia scored a single in the seventh and a triple-takeout ended the game in the eighth.
“Credit to them, they made a lot of great shots,” Gallant said. “They played really well in the first couple of ends and we left a few out there.”
Great Britain also controlled the early game against Canada, taking an early 3-0 lead and never trailing. The rocks were textured before the game and the icemaking crew underclipped the frozen pebble to keep the curl in check.
It created faster, straighter conditions that handcuffed some of the teams at times.
“It was kind of like going from your municipal golf course (to) the greens at the U.S. Open,” Gallant said.
Added Peterman: “I don’t know if we’ve ever played on ice that straight.”
With conditions back to normal in the evening, hitting consistency was a problem for the Canadians. They were just 36 per cent on takeouts and 71 per cent overall for the game.
Canada was scheduled to play a big game against Rasmus Wrana and Isabella Wrana of Sweden (4-3) on Sunday afternoon.
Gallant and Peterman will take on South Korea’s Seonyeong Kim and Yeongseok Jeong (1-5) in the evening and close out their round-robin schedule Monday against Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann of Switzerland (3-3).
Great Britain (7-0) secured a playoff spot and was the lone unbeaten team. Americans Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse of the United States were tied with Italy at 4-2.
Constantini and Mosaner came back for a 6-5 win over Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten.
Depending on results over the next two days, a 6-3 record may be required to advance. Sometimes a 5-4 mark is enough, but Canada remained in last place in the draw shot challenge standings.
Pre-game draw measurements to determine hammer are averaged over the round-robin to break any ties for the playoffs.
Peterman is all too familiar with that scenario. She missed the cut at the 2022 Beijing Games when her women’s team skipped by Jennifer Jones was 5-4, but too far behind on the draw numbers.
“I watch some of the athletes who have one chance at a one-minute run for their entire Olympic career,” said Canadian coach Scott Pfeifer. “And out here we get to play nine games, and yes, there’s an LSD (last-stone draw) instead of a tiebreaker (game).
“There’s plenty of opportunities to make it into the playoffs based on the virtue of your play on the ice. And that’s all we’re focusing on.”
Semifinals are set for Monday night and medal games will be played Tuesday. Canada won Olympic mixed doubles gold in 2018 but missed the playoffs in 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2026.
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