USA at Full Curling Strength in Korea

Team Peterson knew the first half of the season would be anything but ideal.

With sisters Tara and Tabitha both expecting, the reigning U.S. women’s champions—and 2021 world bronze medalists—would need to quickly embrace flexibility and change.

“We knew the season would be full of unknowns,” shared Tara Peterson. “Everyone knew that any and all lineups were possible.”

Varying lineups were not just possible—they were reality. Any given week, you’d see a different iteration of Team Peterson. The lineup shuffling even included coach Cathy Overton-Clapham calling games while throwing lead rocks, as well as temporary outside help from curlers such as Aileen Geving.

Tara noted it was a challenge to deal with constant change, but the team found some upsides. “It gave us all a good appreciation for our teammates who are in those roles normally,” she said. “I think it has made us stronger.”

Six weeks after winning another national title and with four games down at the 2025 world women’s championship in South Korea, Team Peterson will need to rely on that strength to secure a spot for the United States at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics.

While every game at the world level is expected to be a slog, the United States wound up facing the top three-ranked teams in the world in their first five games. They have managed two wins thus far, including a victory over the third-ranked Team Hasselborg of Sweden (now 3-2).

Their two losses have come to Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni (world #2, now 5-0 along with hosts Korea) and Italy’s Stefania Constantini (world #15, now 2-3).

It doesn’t get any easier with Peterson’s next matchup on Tuesday morning in Korea (Monday evening in North America) against the defending champions from Canada; the dominance of skip Rachel Homan (now 3-1) over the past two years is unprecedented.

But even with two early losses, the reigning three-time national champions are in a good spot with two-thirds of the round robin remaining. Given the long week, they have plenty of time to put themselves in a good position to make the playoffs.

Skip Tabitha Peterson said they’ve prepared for this.

“We trust that our on- and off-ice training has built our endurance to match the needs of this competition,” Peterson said. “We do lots of mental training as well, so that we’re in the right headspace for the long event.”

While the games against top-ranked squads are important measuring sticks, their most important games for Olympic qualification are still to come.

Denmark, Scotland, Norway, Türkiye and Japan are next to USA in the Olympic qualification standings, and the team has yet to face any of those teams. So even though Team Peterson was short-handed for much of the season, they’re back at full strength at the most important time.