Shuster aiming—already—at 2026

Canada beat defending champions United States 8-5 on Friday afternoon to take the men’s bronze medals at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The Canadians started with last-stone advantage and used it to score two points in the first end on a hit-and-stay by skip Brad Gushue.

In the second end, United States could only score one when their skip John Shuster had to draw inside two Canadian stones.

Canada then moved into a 3-1 lead before USA levelled the score at 3-3 in the fourth, when, after splitting the house early in the end, Shuster had a draw for two points.

Canada seemed intent on blanking the fifth, but Gushue’s stone stuck around after his takeout for a 4-3 lead into the break.

The Americans took the lead at 5-4 in the sixth end, with another draw for two by Shuster.

In the seventh, Canada’s Gushue seemed to pick up some debris with his first stone, but a precise double take-out and roll with his second stone succeeded in blanking the end.

Canada then had a chance to score three in the eighth but had to settle for two when Gushue’s final draw was heavy and wide, to move onto a 6-5 lead.

Shuster was facing two Canadian counting stones when he came to play his last stone of the ninth, but his hit was not strong enough to remove either of them, and Canada stole two for an 8-5 lead.

Canada ran United States out of stones in the 10th end to finish off their bronze medal victory. Canadian curling folk hero Guy Hemmings made the call on CBC-Radio Canada (geoblocked outside of Canada).

“I would have loved to come here and go nine-and-oh and steamroll through everybody, but that’s just not the curling world we live in anymore,” said Gushue.

“It’s been a great experience, even though our play throughout the week was bordering on terrible, to be honest, for our capability.

“We know what could have been. If we’d come here and played to the best of our ability, things could have been different. It would have been nice to come here and walk away and say, ‘Geez, we played great’. But we weren’t at our best this week.

“Today and the past couple of days has just been about grinding, and trying to give ourselves a shot to win. We had a shot last night (semifinal against Sweden) that was tough and we just missed it, and today we got a break in the ninth end with the steal of two which put the game out of reach.”

After the match, Shuster was reflective.

“It makes it easier for me that we played well in that game,” said the 2018 Olympic men’s champion. “Before these Olympics I said if we came here, fought hard, played well, and did everything we could, then the result would not make or break our team.

“I think we accomplished all those goals. It’s a bummer not to be on the podium, but it makes it a little easier.”

Shuster was asked if he plans to compete at another Olympic Winter Games, such as Milano-Cortina in 2026.

“Hopefully,” he said. “I am not retiring, but that doesn’t mean I will ever get back here. As of now, that was the plan. We are all at the age, who knows if these guys will start having kids. Not everyone’s situation is the same, but I would love to keep playing with these guys.

“No matter what happens, I am so happy and proud. I love playing with these guys and hope they want to keep doing it.”

The men’s competition concludes with the championship final between Sweden and Great Britain on Saturday afternoon.