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Canada’s wheelchair curling team won its fourth Paralympic title and first since 2014 on Saturday with a 4-3 win over defending champion China at the Milano-Cortina Games.
Canada’s rink, which includes skip Mark Ideson, lead Collinda Joseph, second Ina Forrest, third Jon Thurston and alternate Gilbert Dash, won all 11 of its games in Italy.
The back-and-forth gold-medal game came down to the final stones with the score tied 3-3. It appeared the Canadians would not have to throw their final rock after opposing skip Wang Haitao sent China’s heavy through the house, leaving Canada seemingly in position for the decisive single.
But with Canada’s thinking-time clock winding down and no official call, Ideson delivered the final shot with 2.8 seconds left to tap it in for the win.
Canada’s wheelchair curling team needed a dramatic final shot to win gold at the Paralympic Winter Games.
Ideson opened the scoring in the second end with a perfect draw to the button for a single in front of the roaring crowd at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. The teams traded singles for the next five ends, leaving the game tied entering the eighth and final end with Canada holding the hammer.
Canada made history Thursday by becoming the first team ever to go 9-0 in the preliminary round at the Paralympics. The team’s round-robin campaign included a 9-4 win over China.
Canada is the only country to win a wheelchair curling medal at every Paralympics since the sport’s addition in 2006, winning the first three tournaments before earning bronze in the last two.
Forrest is the first wheelchair curler to compete at five Paralympics.
