By Ben Hoppe
While curling has taken centre stage due to controversy in recent days, Monday night’s draw between Italy and the United States showcased the best of the sportsmanship curlers are used to seeing.
The game brought significant meaning to each team. The United States was off to a hot start, seeking to move to 5-1 and move themselves one step closer to the playoffs. Meanwhile, Italy was seeking their first win in front of a raucous hometown crowd. The Italians were in strong position to earn that first notch in the win column, but the game came to an abrupt halt in the 7th end.
Trailing by 4-1 and playing without the hammer, the United States was attempting to play a freeze on Cory Thiesse’s first rock. With the rock running wide, Taylor Anderson-Heide was trying to sweep the rock to curl when the rock took an abrupt turn, but her broom stuck in the ice and the American lead stumbled.
Suddenly, the rock that had been wide crashed on a center guard. In the chaos of the moment, Anderson-Heide did not feel the rock make contact with the foam of her broom, but both the skip Tabitha Peterson and Cory Thiesse questioned what caused the rock to turn so suddenly.
“We weren’t really sure what happened,” Peterson told reporters after the game. “Because it jumped so much, it looked like she might have kicked it, but we didn’t see or feel it.”
Despite not seeing or feeling any impact of the broom or a foot on the rock, the United States still believed they were likely at fault, so they alerted Stefania Constantini of the likely infraction. As the infraction happened right at the hog line, Constantini was well within her rights to have removed the rock altogether and put the rocks back to where they were, which would have put Italy into even more of an ideal situation to continue moving to victory.
As the Italian team discussed their options, they asked for Peterson’s perspective, but she told them it was their decision to make. Constantini could be heard on the broadcast replying, “We can decide together.”
Instead of removing the rock, which would have been perfectly understandable, Constantini and her team chose to keep the rock in play and try to figure out where all the rocks would have ended up had the rock not been accidentally burned by the American sweeper.
“At that moment, in our view, it was important to decide together (with the opponents, so that there would be no imbalances or not-so-positive feelings,” Constantini said post-game. “Choosing it together would have led to the fairest possible decision.”
In a game where Italy wanted so badly to give their fans a win to celebrate, they chose fair play first, regardless of the circumstances. Together, the two teams determined where they thought the rocks would have ended up and collaborated without needing additional guidance from officials.
“It was a good showing of sportsmanship,” said Peterson.
After play resumed, Peterson made an excellent freeze to possibly set up a steal in the end, but Constantini made an outstanding shot to pick the United States rock off the button and score a point. Italy would go on to earn a 7-2 victory to the delight of their proud Italian fans. It was a victory earned through great play from the home country and even greater sportsmanship by both sides.
In an event where turmoil over boops, burned rocks, and gamesmanship has been one of the dominant themes in recent days, it was refreshing to see fair play and cooperation between two competitors prevail on Monday night in Cortina.
Lead photo by Anil Mungal/TCG
