Italy

Italy Curling Mixed Doubles Seals Perfect Olympics Run With Gold Medal Game Victory

Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner brought home the gold for Italy

Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini of Team Italy celebrate winning the gold medal against Team Norway
Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

It was closer than some expected, but Italy defeated Norway to win gold in the mixed doubles curling wrap up a perfect Olympics.

The victory sealed Italy's first-ever Olympic curling medal.

Down 7-5 entering the final end, Norway was in position to force an extra end before Italy's final throw. Stefania Constantini then delivered a perfect shot, as Amos Mosaner swept and the Italians executed a double takeout -- knocking both Norwegian stones and stealing one final point for the 8-5 win.

The Italian duo of Constantini and Mosaner were 11-0 in Beijing, winning all nine round-robin games and then advancing to the gold medal match with an 8-1 victory over Sweden. The Italians outscored their opponents 95-54 in 11 games.

Italy was in command of the gold medal game for most of the event. Norway grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first end before the Italians struck for six unanswered over the next three ends to take a 6-2 lead. The two sides traded points in the fifth and sixth before Norway scored two points in the seventh to make it 7-5. But with Italy holding the last-rock advantage, also known as the hammer, Constantini easily knocked both yellow stones out for the win.

“Winning a gold medal without losing a game, I think, is amazing,” Mosaner said after the match.

The Norwegians were the reigning bronze medalists — but with an asterisk. Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten lost in the third-place game at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, but moved onto the medal stand when Russian clurler Alexander Krushelnitsky failed a doping test.

The Swedish team of Almida de Val and Oskar Eriksson secured the bronze medal earlier Tuesday with their victory over Britain.

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