BEIJING — John Shuster is a big shot maker. This is the same person who, four years ago, won a gold medal in men's curling for Team USA with a game-changing, house-clearing heave that led to five points against Sweden that locked up the win.
If Shuster says he has a shot, then he has a shot.
And he really thought he could grab two points in the eighth end on Tuesday when he had the hammer and saw a path to tying the game with Italy.
"It was pretty much just a nose hit," Shuster said. "And pretty straightforward. Just happened to be a little bit narrow."
Shuster's shot was off by a few inches, inches that could knock Team USA out of the Olympic competition by the end of round-robin play.
Instead of two points, Shuster's shot cleared out his team's two stones, leaving four stones in the house for Italy. Instead of a 6-6 tie, the U.S. was down 10-4 and conceded with two ends to go.
After beating Switzerland during the morning session, a U.S. win over 1-5 Italy paired with a Norway loss in the evening session would have qualified the Americans for the semifinals. Norway did its part by losing to China. Team USA now must sort through potential tiebreakers to continue its defense of its goal medal in 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea.
"I'm bummed because, you know, losing stinks," Shuster said, "but at the same time, we're not out of it. So, if that loss meant we were out of tournament, I think I'd probably be feel different."
Shuster, of Chisholm, Minn., returned to the athletes' village knowing that a win over last place Denmark on Thursday (7:05 p.m. Wednesday in Minnesota) means at least a tie for fourth place in the round-robin portion of the tournament. But tiebreakers could come into play.
The teams that can tie Team USA with a 5-4 record are the Russian Olympic Committee, Switzerland and Canada. The ROC beat Canada in extra ends on Tuesday to make a mess of things.
Team USA owns the tiebreaker over the ROC and Switzerland but not Canada. The ROC plays second-place Great Britain on Wednesday. Switzerland is 3-4 and has matches left with China and first-place Sweden. Canada is 5-3 and plays Great Britain on Thursday. If Canada loses, finishes 5-4, and ties at least two other teams in the standings, then third and fourth place go to tiebreakers.
If three teams finish 5-4, the tiebreaker goes to the team with the best record against the other two. If the three teams are 1-1 against each other, the tiebreaker is the draw that's made to determine who has the hammer first before each match. It's called the draw shot challenge. Every team throws twice at the button — one with a clockwise spin, the other counterclockwise — with the closest cumulative distance winning. The average distance, minus the two worst throws, is used. Team USA could lose out if it comes down to the draw shot challenge because it ranks eighth of 10 teams.
So if Team USA wins Thursday, Shuster's team is likely moving on. Canada beating Great Britain would make things easier.
The U.S. women's team faltered on Tuesday too, and it went into its final two matches starting late Tuesday needing to win both to reach the semis with a 6-3 record.
How the Americans got there was baffling, as they took an 8-4 lead into the ninth end against first-place Switzerland. Suddenly, they did nothing right. The ice opened for the Swiss, which scored four in the eighth to take an 8-6 lead and ended up winning 9-6.
"After eight, we were in a really good spot," said skip Tabitha Peterson, from Eagan, Minn.
At least the women's team controls its destiny. Shuster's squad must like win-or-go-home scenarios. It put itself in this slop by losing to an Italy team that had just one win entering the match. Now the Americans face another one-win team in Denmark, a newcomer to Olympic curling, that should be dominated by a team looking for more gold.
"Honestly, whether you get to the medal round and you're 5-4 or 9-0, the records are wiped out," Shuster said. "And if you win two games, you get a gold medal. So, we're hoping to get that chance."
