BLAINE, Minn. — Becca and Matt Hamilton proved on Sunday that they’re the best mixed doubles curling team in the United States.
The reigning national champions left no doubt that they’re the nation’s best by winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Mixed Doubles Curling, defeating Team Christensen-Shuster at Fogerty Arena in Blaine, Minnesota.
The Hamiltons will now get the chance to show what they can do against the world’s best, making history as the first U.S. Olympic team in mixed doubles curling, which debuts at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang in less than two months. Sunday’s win capped an impressive tournament in which they were the second seed following the round robin, then defeated Cory Christensen and John Shuster, who were 6-1 in round robin, in the Page 1-2 semifinal.
In a match between two teams that are extremely familiar with each other’s play, neither was able to get more than a two-point lead at any point. In the seventh end, the Hamiltons stole a point to go up by two. That ended up being the game: while Christensen-Shuster had the hammer in the eighth, they were only able to score one, giving the Hamiltons a 6-5 win.
The siblings from McFarland, Wisconsin were already going to PyeongChang as members of the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic teams, but now will have a chance at two medals each.
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