CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Steve Emt and Laura Dwyer fought back tears.
They had come up short.
Years of dreaming, months of practicing, and days of gritty victories at the 2026 Winter Paralympics, it all led up to this moment. USA Curling was on doorstep of winning its first Paralympic medal, and Emt and Dwyer wanted to be authors of that history in the mixed doubles bronze medal match against Latvian duo Polina Rozkova and Agris Lasmans.
“It was a battle out there, it was a brawl,” Emt said. “Putting on a show for everybody watching around the world, but it’s gonna sting for a while.” Sting for a while indeed. The Americans and Latvians went to an extra end, the Latvians ultimately coming out on top, 11-10.
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The Americans’ journey to the bronze medal game required resilience. The duo notched a win over host nation Italy and an upset over future gold medalist China to soar into the final four; a loss to Korea put them in the bronze medal match against Latvia.
Against Latvia, Emt and Dwyer, alongside coach Pete Annis, decided to play more loosely and aggressively early. After one end – analogous to an inning in baseball – it looked to be working perfectly.
“It was punch for punch. We come out in the first round and hit them in the gut with a four. They come back in the second round and uppercut for five,” Emt said. “It was incredible. The atmosphere is amazing. The people, the fans, the support.”
The Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium was alive with energy as the gold medal match between China and South Korea unfolded played at the same time as the Americans and Latvians battled it out. Fans waited in silence for a stone to make its way across the ice – understanding the importance of each shot moment in an end – before exploding to celebrate the result.
After the big start, the Americans lost momentum in the middle and surged again to the lead after six ends. The teams finished tied at 10 apiece and moved on to an extra, sudden-death frame.
Dywer, who made her Paralympic debut, relied on the 12-year veteran Emt.
“It’s been great because he’s been here before to another Games. So, he’s calm about it, knows what to do, and I had no jitters,” Dywer said.
The game came down in the extra end to Dwyer’s delivery. She needed to land one of the toughest shots in curling by pushing the Latvian stone out of button position while avoiding a tight guard window. The duo called a timeout, knew what needed to be done, and took their positions.
It was close. But it was a miss.
The bronze went to the Latvian duo, the only athletes representing their country in the Paralympics.
When loss was final, Annis, the coach to Emt and Dwyer, slumped his head, clearly emotional over the result.
“I feel bad because they put so much time into it, five, six days a week. I know Steve’s been here for 12 years, growing in a cycle. He really wanted to get the first medal for U.S. Curling,” the 63-year-old said. “He’s gonna be hard on himself. In the long run, it might work out for everybody someday. He’ll get one guaranteed then.”
Annis was not the only one emotional. Dwyer thanked their coach for giving them a chance to compete in mixed doubles together.
“I don’t want to speak into wouldas or shouldas, I don’t,” Dwyer said. “But he’s been coaching us, and he’s really put in so much of himself into this program for us. He believes in us. I’m gonna get one for him. It’s obviously not today, but I just got here. It’s my first Games. I plan to come around again and do it.”
Alex Carpenter is a reporter for the Paralympics Project, a partnership between USA TODAY Network and the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.