For the seventh consecutive Winter Games, the United States will send a men’s curling rink to represent the country. Team Casper (USA) threw, swept and headband celly’d passed Team Xu (China) to qualify for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
It was a close, grind-it-out contest, despite what the 9-4 final score indicates. Neither squad was perfect, but Xu made a few too many costly errors, and Casper landed enough expertly-executed shots to continue their Cinderella Story.
“It’s kind of a trend of ours, we don’t necessarily start the best, but once we get the ice figured out, we’re really comfortable,” skip Danny Casper said afterward.
Heading into the qualifier game, both rinks topped the round-robin table, finishing tied for the best record at 6-1. Their lone matchup in pool play was a nailbiter, as China battled its way to a gutsy 9-8 victory thanks to a two-point steal in the 10th end. With a tiebreaker and control of the hammer, Team Xu looked to carry the momentum into the winner-take-all.
They quickly put two points on the board in the first end, and Casper responded in the second to cut the lead in half. Casper proceeded to steal a point in each of the next three ends (all while Xu had the hammer) to jump out to a commanding 5-2 advantage. Still, it felt like they could have been up by more when one of China’s stones was “picked” in the fourth. In other words, it was knocked off line by an unknown foreign object, causing a critical misfire.
The wasted shot allowed Casper to take full control of the house, filling it with five of their red stones compared to zero yellow ones. The rocks settled into a cosmic, Big Dipper formation, and the stars were aligned for a massive end. Skip Xu Xiaoming limited the damage with two superb throws, enabling Casper to steal just a single point.
After trading a few scores in the ensuing ends, Team Casper led 5-4 at the start of what wound up being the decisive ninth. Casper had the hammer, along with three stones in the house closest to the button. Xu threw his final rock of the end that, due to a slightly-heavy delivery and poor sweeping, missed everything and sailed out of play. Skip Casper put on the finishing touches, gently tossing his last stone into the house to give the U.S. a four-point end, a 9-4 lead and a concession from Xu.
“I felt pressure, but I mean, it's an honor to play in games that give you that feeling,” Danny said. “I had a good friend of mine remind me that today, and I think that was really helpful.”
The 24-year-old didn’t specify who this “friend” was, but John Shuster is a solid bet.
To reach the Olympic Qualification Event (OQE), Team Casper pulled off a massive upset against Team Shuster in the U.S. Team Trials in November. For 20 years, "Shoostie" ruled the nation’s sheets, making it to five straight Winter Olympics and skipping a squad that won the country’s lone gold medal in 2018. He lit the hearth of American curling and bore its torch for decades. Now, the torch is in Casper’s possession, who’ll carry it proudly to Milan Cortina.
For Danny and his teammates Luc Violette, Ben Richardson, Aidan Oldenburg and Rich Ruohonen, it will be their first-career Winter Olympic Games. At age 54, Ruohonen, the rink’s alternate, will become the oldest American to compete in a Winter Olympics in any medal sport should he see action.
Olympic curling for Team USA begins with round-robin play on February 11 at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium and will stream live on Peacock.
Meanwhile, on the women's side, Team Peterson (USA) will look to punch its own ticket to Milan Cortina when they face off against Team Roervik (NOR). Coverage starts Dec. 11 at 1:00 p.m. ET on Peacock.