The 2021 American mixed doubles curling Olympic trials took place at Curl Mesabi in Eveleth, Minnesota, from October 26 to October 31, 2021.
Ten teams participated in a round robin tournament during the trials. The top four teams from the round robin advanced to the page playoff.
The victor of this competition will represent the United States at the Olympic Qualifying Event in an effort to qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
Vicky Persinger, Chris Plys Win Olympic Trials for Mixed Doubles Curling
Sunday night’s U.S. Olympic Mixed Doubles Curling Trials were won by Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys, putting them one step closer to earning seats on the 2022 U.S. Olympic squad.
Persinger and Plys will represent the United States at World Curling’s Olympic Qualification Event from December 5–9 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, thanks to their victory in Eveleth, Minnesota.
The top two teams from the 14 nations who competed in Leeuwarden will be given tickets to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
For Persinger, 29, and Plys, 34, Beijing would be their first Olympics in 12 years.
He played fifth or alternate on John Shuster’s rink, which finished 10th in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
In the sport of mixed doubles, which made its Olympic debut in PyeongChang 2018, Persinger and Plys are in their fourth season together. In 2019 they finished second in the country, and in May 2021 they won the U.S. championship.
Mixed Doubles Curling: Team USA Eliminated from Semifinal Contention with Loss to Switzerland
In the penultimate round robin round of mixed doubles curling action on Sunday, Switzerland defeated Team USA 6-5 after to a flawless draw shot.
The top four teams advance, and Team USA’s chances of making the semifinals are now gone.
With three points in the opening end, Switzerland quickly took a commanding lead.
In the second, the United States attempted a takeout that would have yielded three points in return, but it was unsuccessful and they were forced to settle for just one.
Vicky Persinger’s draw shot levelled the score for Team USA in the seventh after they fell behind 5-3.
On Sunday at 8:05 p.m. ET versus Great Britain, Team USA (3-5) will conclude round robin play and their Olympic campaign.
Switzerland (3-5), who was also ejected from the semifinals, will conclude its Olympic campaign against Norway.
Conclusion
The mixed doubles curling championship was won by Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, giving Italy its first Olympic gold medal in the discipline.
Despite having no prior experience in gold-medal matches, the pair entered the final as heavy favourites.
After going unbeaten in 10 games—nine during the round-robin stage and one in the semifinals.
By simply reaching the final, Constantini and Mosaner established themselves as the first Italians to do so at the Games and the first Italian curling team to go undefeated in round-robin play.
Being the defending world silver medalists, Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten of Norway, who are married, did not make it an easy victory.
