Defending champion Sweden out of Olympic medal contention in men's curling after 'horrible week'

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CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Defending champion Sweden was eliminated from semifinal contention in the men's curling competition at the Winter Olympics with two matches to spare Tuesday after what skip Niklas Edin described as a “horrible week.”

A 9-4 loss to Switzerland in the morning session dropped Sweden's record in round-robin play to 1-6, leaving the team unable to secure a place in the top four and play for a medal.

The Swedes have been on the podium in each of the last three Winter Games under Edin, winning bronze in 2014, silver in 2018 and gold in Beijing in 2022.

Sweden has been embroiled in a headline-grabbing cheating controversy over the past few days, since one of its players — Oskar Eriksson — accused Canadian rival Marc Kennedy of an illegal double-touch in a feisty match on Saturday.

Edin regretted getting involved in the controversy and said it affected the team.

“It’s tough to deal with," he said. "We maybe should have done something different and could have dealt with it differently, too.

“It would have been nice to just blank our minds and forget about it. But that was easier said than done. So a little lack of sleep, a little lack of focus on the right things, and it turned into a horrible week.”

Ahead of Sweden's match against Norway late Tuesday, Edin acknowledged his team was “fighting not to be last in this event now."

He also said he was questioning his future in the sport, having been Sweden's skip at every Olympics since 2010.

“We’ve got to listen in on everyone and see if it’s still fun to curl, (to see) if we still realistically think we have a chance four years from now,” he said. "If not, then it might not be worth it.

“We’re sacrificing a lot on the personal level to do this. Obviously, a team from Sweden doesn’t basically make any money doing this, so it’s kind of more for the enjoyment of the thing. And if that part disappears or goes down to not making up for everything else, then it’s definitely not going to be worth it."

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics