Team Canada takes silver at the 2024 World Men’s Curling Championship
Team Canada secures its third consecutive silver medal from the World Men’s Curling Championship.
Canada, represented by Team Gushue, showcased a world-class performance despite falling to Sweden’s Niklas Edin 6-5 in the final on Sunday at KSS Sports Complex in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
The two teams had emerged as the top two from the round-robin phase. As table-toppers, Sweden started the final with the last-stone advantage.
Wearing red and throwing red, Team Gushue — comprised of skip Brad Gushue, vice-skip Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden, lead Geoff Walker, and alternate Kyle Doering — began the game throwing first. After blanking the first end, Sweden secured an easy two in the second end. Putting on the pressure for the Canadians, Sweden stole a single in the third to take a 3-0 lead.
Canada retaliated, setting up and scoring two in the fourth end to close the gap on Sweden. Canada’s skip Gushue played a hit to put Canada back in the game. The board remained at 3-2 fat the break with Sweden retaining the hammer for the sixth end.
Needing to play a nearly perfect last five ends, Team Gushue forced Sweden to a single in the sixth as their lead extended to 4-2. In the seventh end, Gushue produced a nose-hit to score one and again reduce the Swedish lead. The two teams keep fans on the edge of their seats heading into the eighth end, Sweden with the hammer and a 4-3 lead. Edin responded with a draw for one, moving the score to 5-3.
Canada, having trailed all game, put two points on the board to tie the game at 5-5 heading into the tenth end. Gushue had a delicate tap for two and delivered to once again bring the Canadians back into consideration for gold. Edin was successful with a difficult wide draw to score one point. Despite a strong comeback by the Canadians, Niklas Edin delivered to secure a record-breaking seventh world title.
Gushue was gracious in defeat. He said, “We forced him into a tough one but credit to him, he made a great shot. No better way to win a world championship.”
He added, “To be second in the world, you have to be proud of what we did, but it’s just disappointing.”
Canada finishes the tournament with a record of 10-2. This final marks the fourth time in the past seven events that Gushue and Edin have played against each other in the gold medal game.
Earlier on Sunday, Italy took down Scotland to secure the bronze medal with a 7-6 extra end.
On Saturday, Canada rode a second-half surge to defeat Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat 9-4 in the semifinals. A surprising error from Scotland in the sixth end, allowed Canada to steal three and take a 6-3 lead. From there, Canada simplified its game and took complete control of the second half.
READ: Team Canada is going for gold at the Men’s World Curling Championship
In five world championship appearances together, Gushue, Nichols, and Walker have never missed the playoffs. They won the gold medal in 2017, the last time Canada could boast having the world men’s curling champions. That was followed by silver medals in 2018, 2022, and 2023, which was their first season with Harnden.
By placing in the top six, Team Gushue has also booked themselves a spot in the four-player Canadian Curling Trials that will take place in November 2025 and will determine who will be Team Canada in men’s curling at Milano Cortina 2026. The results from this year’s Worlds will be combined with those at next year’s Worlds to decide the first eight countries to earn Olympic qualification.
