Curling gold for ‘Team Reject’

Team USA sheds group-play woes to stun Sweden

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — Move over, Mike Eruzione. You have company.

John Shuster delivered another Miracle on Ice for the Americans, only this one came with brooms instead of hockey sticks.

For one day, at least, the United States is a curling nation.

The team that became a cultural phenomenon back home — hey, even Mr. T is a fan — delivered the ultimate prize on the biggest stage, capturing the gold medal with a riveting upset of Sweden.

Enough with the jokes about sweeping and rocks and a bunch of beer-swilling guys playing a game better suited for a pub.

This sport is like any other at the Winter Olympics — played by highly trained athletes who care deeply about their craft, filled with stories of dreams and disappointment and redemption.

Look no further than Shuster, who delivered the shot of a lifetime Saturday to essentially clinch the title with two full ends — like innings, for those of us who need an explainer in

baseball-like terms — still to go.

He glided along the ice on a knee, deftly let go of the rock and watched it send two Swedish stones careening away from the target circle. The Americans wound up with the five closest rocks to the bulls-eye, a fivepoint round that is essentially unheard of at this level of competition.

Only one other team, perennial power Canada, has delivered a higher-scoring end in a gold-medal match at the Olympics.

But for the uninitiated — essentially, all of us — Shuster said it was one of the easiest shots he’s had,

thanks to the work of his three teammates and a high-risk attempt by the Swedes that missed the mark by about an inch.

“During the entire end, I felt it building,” Shuster said. “Their margin for error got incredibly small.”

When it came time for the American skip to deliver the last of eight rocks, he had no doubt what was going to happen.

“I can’t tell you how un-nervous I was sitting in the hack to throw it,” Shuster said.

Just like that, the match went from a 5-5 tie to a 10-5 lead for the Americans.

The Swedes knew they were done, spending the last two ends simply playing for pride and working off their frustration. On the final throw, Niklas

Edin did a little spin to entertain the crowd and concede the match.

The final: United States 10, Sweden 7.

While nothing will compare to the real Miracle on Ice — a bunch of college kids beating the mighty Soviets in hockey at the 1980 Lake Placid Games, with Eruzione scoring the winning goal — this will rank right up there in the curling world.

The Americans had captured only one medal in Olympic competition, a bronze in 2006, and they weren’t viewed as a medal contender at the Pyeongchang Games. Especially when they lost four of their first six matches in group play, putting the team on the brink of elimination.

But “Team Reject,” as the players called themselves, persevered. And as the wins piled up, they began to draw more and more attention back home. Mr. T stayed up to watch. NFL stars Aaron Rodgers and J.J. Watt tweeted their support.

They’ll never really know how much it meant to Shuster and his teammates.

“I think curling really has a chance of taking off in our country,” he said. “It’s really just an incredible group of people. Always welcoming, and really, I think, embodies what all of us would hope humanity can be. That’s caring for each other and being compassionate with your fellow people around you. That’s what curling embodies. I’m really happy to share that with the world.”