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Takeaways: Isabella Wrana leads Sweden to Olympic mixed doubles gold 

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Rasmus Wrana will forever be thankful for his younger sister’s performance in the mixed doubles gold-medal match. 

Sweden’s Rasmus and Isabella Wrana beat the U.S. 6-5 in a thriller to capture gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics. It’s the first time the Swedes have won Olympic gold in mixed doubles — their previous best was a bronze medal at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing in the second Winter Games appearance for the event..

It’s Sweden’s fifth overall gold medal in Olympic curling, trailing just Canada (six) for the most all time.

Despite the heartbreak of not winning the gold medal, it was a historic run for Team USA’s Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin.

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They earned the Americans’ first-ever medal in mixed doubles and Thiesse became the first woman to collect an Olympic curling medal for the United States. 

As for Dropkin, his passionate celebration with crowds all week did something larger for the sport. New eyeballs now are familiar with curling.

Curling fan and San Francisco 49ers superstar tight end George Kittle posted to his Instagram story prior to the gold-medal match, showing his support for the American duo. The U.S. also had Snoop Dogg cheering them on in their game against Canada in round-robin play.

In the bronze-medal match, Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner secured the win over Great Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat. The Italians weren’t able to defend their gold medal from 2022, but still found the podium on home soil.

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Draw 15 (bronze-medal game)

Draw 16 (gold-medal game)

Isabella has the game of her life

The pressure of playing for an Olympic gold medal can get to a curler

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But Isabella rose to the occasion, shooting an absurd 97 per cent. 

From her opening shot in the first end, you could tell Isabella was focused and determined to come away with the gold medal.

For the first six ends, it was all about Isabella’s draw weight. She came up with clutch shots to put Sweden in a great position to force without hammer, or score with last rock.

It started with her draw in the second. With only the side of the button open to get second shot, Wrana made a great draw for two.

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Tied 2-2 in the fourth end, Isabella was staring at four American rocks in the house as she went to throw her last stone. Once again, she delivered, making another great draw for one.

In the sixth end, Sweden had a chance to score big. But Rasmus had a poor throw, forcing Isabella to great again. She got Sweden a point to go up 4-3.

The final two ends were different, though. Isabella needed to come through with two hits, and considering she had thrown none in the first six ends, it could have been a tough adjustment.

But for Isabella, it’s her bread and butter.

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In the seventh, Rasmus jammed on a double attempt, opening the door for the U.S. to possibly score three. Isabella didn’t let that happen, however, as she made a double to let the U.S. score only two.

Down 5-4 in the eighth, and the gold medal on the line, Isabella came through with one more clutch shot to score two and win the game. 

Without Isabella playing the way she did, Sweden doesn’t win.

It’s heartbreak again for the Brits

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For everyone but the Olympic champions, the next four years can be tough. Curlers can sit and think about what they could have done differently to win the gold, and if they’re lucky, they get another chance

Great Britain’s Dodds and Mouat did get a second Olympic shot, but history repeated itself. 

At the 2022 Olympics, Dodds and Mouat went 6-3 in round-robin play, finishing as the No. 3 seed. They lost their semifinal match and the bronze-medal game that year.

Well, in 2026 it was a different path, but the same result. They went 8-1 in round-robin play, finishing as the No. 1 seed. But the playoffs once again got the best of them as they finished the event in fourth place.

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The key moments were the difference in the bronze-medal match. Dodds had a shot for three in the first but missed and gave up a steal of one. In the fourth end, the Brits had the hammer and gave up a steal again to trail 3-1.

Those two steals came back to bite them in the eighth as they were without the hammer trailing 4-3, and couldn’t produce a steal.

Now, Mouat and Dodds will have another four years to think about how they can reach the podium in 2030, if they can get back.

This was only the first of three curling events at the Olympics. The men’s discipline gets underway on Wednesday, while the women’s starts on Thursday. 

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Canada will look for their first gold in either event since 2014.

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Terence Crawford predicts Errol Spence Jr’s reported comeback fight against Tim Tszyu

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It has been almost three years since Errol Spence Jr stepped through the ropes, but a summer return against Australia’s Tim Tszyu seems to be gathering pace.

Spence was handed the first defeat of his career back in 2023 by Terence Crawford, who became the undisputed welterweight world champion that night. Despite many feeling that it was a pick ’em fight beforehand, Crawford won handily, dropping Spence three times before scoring a TKO in the ninth.

After a lengthy lay-off and persistent rumours of a return, Spence reportedly has ‘a done deal’ with Tszyu provided the Aussie comes through Denis Nurja this weekend in Wollongong.

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Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Crawford praised Tszyu’s campaign so far.

“Tim Tszyu [has] had a great career, it’s still going. He’s accomplished a lot for what his experience entails. His fight this weekend – I don’t know too much about the opponent other than he’s undefeated. Will he be back on top and become a champion again? I can’t say he won’t, I can’t say he will. We just got to wait and see.”

However, the recently retired five-division world champion backs his former foe to win should all go to plan and the fight take place.

“I think Spence beats him. At this point in both of their careers, I think he beats him.”

Fans will hope to see a reinvigorated Spence, particularly since he will be returning at 154lbs after cutting to the welterweight limit of 147 for so long. However, questions remain over what he has left in the tank following various injuries – not least a serious car accident.

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Women’s Champions League: Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate to reach semi-finals – Kim Little reaction

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Arsenal captain Kim Little says she believes her side are “getting better and better” as they reach the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League, after beating Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate to close in on successfully defending their title.

READ MORE: Arsenal hold off Chelsea to reach Champions League last four

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J.T. Brown’s wife Lexi LaFleur demands “lifetime ban” after Stars fans’ Nazi salute incident

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Former NHL player J.T. Brown’s wife Lexi LaFleur is calling for immediate action after a video surfaced online showing a group of Dallas Stars fans performing Nazi salutes during a game.

The incident reportedly happened on Dec. 21, 2025, when the Stars faced the Toronto Maple Leafs at American Airlines Center in Dallas, ultimately winning 5-1. According to a Reddit post that has since gone viral, a fan who attended the game recorded a group of young men sitting in front of them doing a Nazi salute “every time the stars scored.”

“I was at the Stars game on December 21 and these boys were sitting in front of us doing a Nazi salute every time the stars scored,” the original poster wrote. “I’ve been to several games and never seen anything like this before. I recorded them and sent it to arena management, but they said they couldn’t find the boys despite me giving them their exact seat numbers.”

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LaFleur Brown quote-tweeted the post reshared on X with a strong message:

“Lifetime ban from all NHL arenas immediately. It’s literally in the NHL Fan Code of Conduct. If you ever see behavior like this at a game, alert staff. Unacceptable.”

In her follow-up comments, she attached a link to the NHL Fan Code of Conduct which explicitly prohibits such behavior.


Lexi LaFleur looks back on her days of playing on the boys’ team as a child

Lexi LaFleur herself has played junior hockey throughout school. Last week, LaFleur posted a photo from her elementary school yearbook on X revealing a childhood dream that has taken on new meaning in light of recent success of the PWHL.

“Crying over my elementary school yearbook in which I wrote ‘when I grow up I want to play in the NHL’ because now little girls get to dream of playing in the PWHL,” she wrote.

But her path to hockey wasn’t without obstacles. In a viral TikTok video that has garnered over 1 million views, LaFleur Brown shared her first experience with toxic masculinity in hockey at just 10 years old when several boys on her youth peewee hockey team voted to have her removed with the help of a parent.

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“It lit a fire under my ass that has fueled me for the rest of my life,” Brown said in the video. “My love for hockey is bigger and greater than anybody’s ability to hate me.” [H/T Glamour magazine]

Following the recent controversy involving President Donald Trump’s phone call to the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, she has been among those calling for greater respect for women in sports.

“It’s sad that fans are new to this and that was kind of their first hockey heartbreak,” LaFleur Brown said in response to the controversy. “I have seen people say, ‘That’s it, I’m just gonna support the PWHL.’ I think that’s great too. There are other ways to love hockey than to just support the NHL.”

The incident occurred when Trump called the men’s gold medal-winning team and joked that he would “have to” invite the women’s team to the State of the Union or risk being impeached. The comment drew rancorous laughter from players in the locker room.