John Shuster and the U.S. men's curling team have come up short in their bid to make a second straight Olympic podium.
The U.S. team of Shuster, Chris Plys, Matt Hamilton and John Landsteiner fell to Canada 8-5 in the bronze medal match on Friday morning.
Holding a three-point advantage in the 10th end, Canada skip Brad Gushue secured the victory by knocking both U.S. stones out of the house with only two throws remaining.
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Shuster, Hamilton and Landsteiner were part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. They were looking to help the United States medal in curling at consecutive Olympics for the first time ever.
This is Gushue's second Olympic medal and first since he won gold at the 2006 Torino Games.
Gushue and Co. had the hammer in the first end and took full advantage by grabbing an early 2-0 lead over Team USA.
After the two sides split the next two ends, the U.S. evened up the score at 3-3 with two points in the fourth.
Canada then made a mistake in the fifth. The Canadians wanted to blank the end to keep possession of the hammer, but Gushue’s throw stayed inside the house after knocking out a Team USA stone. While Canada regained a one-point lead, the United States took back the hammer and used it to jump ahead for the first time with two points in the sixth.
However, Gushue redeemed himself in the seventh with a double takeout on his hammer throw, this time with his stone exiting the house for a blank end.
In the eighth end, the Canadians had a real opportunity to pick up three or four points. The United States dodged a bullet though, as Gushue’s hammer throw neither hit Team USA’s lone stone in the house nor landed in a scoring position. Canada would have to settle for two points and a 6-5 lead.
But Gushue redeemed himself once again in the ninth end to help Canada seize control of the game. His final throw gave Canada two stones in a scoring position and set up a difficult hammer throw for Shuster. The American skip's double takeout attempt failed and the Canadians stole two points for a commanding 8-5 lead.
