By John Hodge
Canada will be playing the defending world champions for gold in men’s curling at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
The Canadians defeated Norway by a score of 5-4 in the semifinal at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on Thursday night. It was a conservative, wide-open game as both teams fought hard to reach the gold medal match.
After blanking the first end, Canadian skip Brad Jacobs missed a chance to sit two with his first stone of the second end and his team was forced to take one.
Canada got a steal in the third end, however, when Jacobs made an excellent hit-and-roll and Norwegian skip Magnus Ramsfjell wrecked on the guard trying to chase it.
Norway got on the board in the fourth end when Ramsfjell made a draw against three to make the score 2-1. Canada then blanked the fifth end when Ramsfjell mistakenly rolled out on his first stone, eliminating any chance of a force.
In the sixth end, Jacobs was forced to draw for one when Ramsfjell made a perfect draw behind two Canadian guards. The Norwegians then blanked the seventh end after Jacobs made a double-takeout on his first stone to eliminate any chance of a deuce.
Norway had a brilliant setup in the eighth end, which came apart on back-to-back shots from Marc Kennedy and Martin Sesaker. Kennedy, Canada’s third, made an angle runback on his second stone to clear the centre line and remove a Norwegian rock from the eight-foot. Sesaker then sailed through the house on a freeze attempt, costing his team a chance at a deuce.
Ramsfjell made a great hit-and-roll on his first stone, which required Jacobs to make a tough tap to sit two. The native of Sault Ste. Marie nailed it, which forced Norway to take one and make the score 3-2.
The ninth end saw both teams cluster stones around the four-foot. Ramsfjell made a wonderful soft-weight double-takeout on his last stone, then Jacobs executed a short runback-double to score one and give the Canadians a 4-2 lead heading into the tenth end.
Jacobs was only able to remove one of two Norwegian stones with his last rock in the tenth end, allowing Ramsfjell to throw a draw and tie the game at 4-4.
In the extra end, Jacobs threw a freeze on his first stone to sit two on the button. Ramsfjell attempted a thin in-off with his final stone but glanced off shot rock, giving Canada one point and the win.
"That game was probably the most nervous we've been as a group in a long time... good back and forth battle... one more big win here and we'd love to come home with gold for Canada," Jacobs told CBC Olympic reporter Bryan Mudryk postgame.
Canada shot 88 percent as a team in the victory — nine percent better than the Norwegians. All four Canadians outshot their Norwegian counterparts by at least five percent. The biggest discrepancy occured at lead, where Ben Hebert outshot Gaute Nepstad 91-78 percent.
Hebert was full of praise for his skip in the mixed zone.
"The guy is an animal. Brad Jacobs is a killer. This week, he's been an unbelievable player, one of the best players in the world... In my opinion, the very best. And we're going to need him to keep that up if we're going to win in a couple days," Hebert said.
The gold medal game is scheduled for Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET where the Canadians will take on Great Britain, who defeated Switzerland in the other semifinal. After squeaking into the playoffs with a 5-4 record, the 2023 and 2025 world champions came through with an 8-5 win in ten ends to seal their second consecutive Olympic medal.
Canada defeated Mouat’s rink during round robin play on Tuesday by a score of 9-5.
The bronze medal game, which is set for Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET, will feature Switzerland against Norway.
Lead photo by Anil Mungal/TCG
