CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy: China won the first wheelchair curling gold medals on offer at the Milan-Cortina Paralympics as they battled to a 9-7 victory over South Korea on Wednesday, while Latvia beat the United States to claim bronze.
The Chinese mixed doubles pair of Wang Meng and Yang Jinqiao secured the tight encounter with a two in the extra end after the sides were level at seven-apiece at the culmination of the regulation eight ends.
After China had raced into an early lead, Korean world number one pairing, Baek Hye-jin and Lee Yong-suk, battled back to force a decider, with notably a three in their away power play in the seventh end.
“Only now I can actually feel it hanging around my neck. It feels heavy,” Yang said of his medal.
“I feel that the efforts of these four years have not been in vain, and it also justifies our efforts of the last four years.”
Latvian duo, Polina Rozkova and Agris Lasmans, also held their nerve in an extra end to edge an 11-10 win over Team USA’s Laura Dwyer and Stephen Emt.
Their bronze was Latvia’s first medal of the 2026 Games.
“Team USA showed a really good performance,” Rozkova said. “And we said, ‘No, no, we are not ready to give up’.
“We put so much work in, not only this last year or the last three years; it’s 10 years-plus of work.” – AFP
