The day the Sundbyberg team had been longing for lived up to all their hopes and dreams.
"We're going out again and doing these things that we've done so well all week. We were patient and managed our nerves. It's a fast-paced game, but we're enjoying it and having so much fun together," says Sofia Scharback.
She fingers the medal and something shiny appears in her eyes.
"I can't really understand it yet."
The final in Cortina developed into the expected battle between the tournament's two strongest teams. The gold medal match was unpredictable until the very end. Sweden had the last stone in the tenth and final round at the score of 5–5. Having the hammer is statistically a clear advantage - and that advantage was used brilliantly.
Agnes Knochenhauer and Sara McManus delivered masterful shots before Hasselborg played the gold stone to make it 6–5.
Opened for the gold
Knochenhauer's shot was decisive; it opened the way to the gold.
"I came up a little short and Agnes needed to do something. After that stone, it's basically just a matter of keeping it open for Anna," says Scharback.
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Knochenhauer:
"It was great to succeed in the final where there were a few nerves. You have to dare. It's a difficult shot, but today it was easy. I knew how I wanted to play it. It's something we've been practicing a lot. It wasn't a coincidence," she says, explaining that she changed her technique a bit for the shot that was crucial to the match.
The four-time Olympic medalist raised her fist in the air.
"Then I felt that now we are winning this."
Sara McManus fills in:
"That's it."
"An incredible feeling"
Anna Hasselborg tells how the conversation went before Knochenhauer cleared away the red Swiss stones.
"Do you want to go down and look at it so you can really 'nail' it? Then she screamed, 'I've already done that.' Then I felt, this fits. Then we're home. And then she put it on perfectly..."
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In the end it was up to Hasselborg. A perfect last stone and the gold was Sweden's.
It's the kind of win she could wake up in the middle of the night and punch the air for, but that would be a bit much.
"It was an incredible feeling to decide that battle and to only have the hammer in the end," says Anna Hasselborg.
Players: Anna Hasselborg, Sara McManus, Agnes Knochenhauer, Sofia Scharback (formerly Mabergs), Johanna Heldin (reserve).
Coach: Kristian Lindstrom.
National team captain: Fredrik Lindberg.
Olympic achievements: Gold in Pyeongchang 2018, gold in Cortina 2026, bronze in Beijing 2022.
Other championship medals: World Championship silver (2018 and 2019), European Championship gold (2018, 2019 and 2025), European Championship silver (2016, 2017, 2021 and 2024).
Swedish medals in curling since the sport returned to the Olympic program in 1988.
Gold:
2006: Women, team (Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, Anna Svärd, Ulrika Bergman)
2010: Women, team (Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, Anna Le Moine, Kajsa Bergström)
2018: Women, team (Anna Hasselborg, Agnes Knochenhauer, Sara McManus, Sofia Mabergs, Jennie Wåhlin)
2022: Men, team (Niklas Edin, Oskar Eriksson, Christoffer Sundgren, Rasmus Wranå, Daniel Magnusson)
2026: Mixed doubles (Rasmus and Isabella Wranå)
2026: Women, team (Anna Hasselborg, Sara McManus, Agnes Knochenhauer, Sofia Scharback (formerly Mabergs), Johanna Heldin, reserve).
Silver:
2014: Women, team.
2018: Men, team.
Bronze:
1998: Women, team.
2014: Men, team.
2022: Women, team.
2022: Mixed Doubles
