3-time defending champ Canada fails to medal

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Switzerland topped Canada to win the bronze medal in men’s curling. The gold-medal game between the U.S. and Sweden is Saturday.

Switzerland clinched the bronze when Benoit Schwarz took out two Canadian stones with his last throw of the 10th and final end.

Canada had just one throw left, so it was unable to score the two points it needed to force an extra end.

“Very fortunate that maybe they didn’t play their absolute best game and we had a pretty good game,” Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz said. “So that was enough to win it.”

Canada won the previous three men’s competitions.

“We feel disheartened, disappointed, just kind of gutted, really,” Canada’s Brent Laing said. “That’s not the way it was supposed to go, wasn’t what we planned, but the better team won today and unfortunately it wasn’t us.”

In women’s curling, South Korea beat Japan 8-7 in an intense semifinal game that went to the 11th end. South Korea skip Kim Eun-jung made a perfect shot with the hammer that stopped on the button to clinch the victory.

The South Koreans — who shared a jubilant hug in front of a roaring crowd after the shot — will face Sweden for gold Sunday. Sweden beat Britain 10-5 in the other semifinal game. Biathlon: Martin Fourcade fell short in his bid for his fourth Olympic gold medal in South Korea as France finished fifth in the men’s 4x7.5kilometer biathlon relay, won by Sweden.

With King Carl XVI Gustaf watching, Peppe Femling, Jesper Nelin, Sebastian Samuelsson and Fredrik Lindstroem teamed to help Sweden win the men’s relay by 55.5 seconds over Norway.

Germany took bronze, marking the seventh time it has medaled in the event in the past eight Olympics.