What we know for sure is Switzerland and Canada are in to the men’s semifinals as the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds.
From there, there’s a lot that can happen. The final two spots are all up for grabs between Great Britain, Italy, Norway, and Team USA.
Great Britain (5-4) is currently alone in 3rd and done with round-robin play, but they haven’t guaranteed their spot because two of their losses came to Italy and Norway, who are tied for fourth at 4-4.
Italy will finish round-robin play against Switzerland, and Norway will finish against Canada.
If both of those teams were to win on Thursday they would each leapfrog Team GB and take the Nos. 3 and 4 spots in the semis, eliminating the defending Olympic silver medalists and 2025 world champs
If only one of Italy and Norway wins, that winner would clinch No. 4 and Great Britain would clinch No. 3.
If both Italy and Norway were to lose on Thursday, that is when the U.S. sneaks in for a chance. The U.S. finished round-robin play on Wednesday with a loss and is 4-5 and sitting alone in 6th place. But, the Americans would clinch the No. 4 seed with losses by all of Italy, Norway, and China.
If Italy and Norway both lose, but Germany (3-5) defeats China (2-6), the next tie break would be the Draw Shot Challenge.
What is the Draw Shot Challenge?
Well, just before the start of every match, skips for each team throw two stones towards the center of the house. The team that gets closest to the center gets hammer to start that game, BUT the distances are also recorded and averaged throughout the tournament, and the team with the lowest average distance wins standings tiebreaks.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. (17.663cm average distance) leads Italy (18.764cm) and Norway (24.907cm) in DSC, but either could still pull ahead on Thursday.
So basically, Team USA still has a chance, but needs a lot of help.
The U.S. men’s curling team has reached the Olympic semifinals in each of the last two Olympics.
Out of contention are 7th place Germany (3-5), and China, Czechia, and Sweden, all 2-6 and tied for 8th.
