CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Joel Retornaz’s Italy beat Britain 9-7 on Friday to continue its winning start at the Winter Olympics with a victory over another favorite in the men’s curling competition, boosting hopes of a medal on home ice.

In its opening match, Italy beat Olympic champions Sweden, which also lost to Britain on Thursday.

Britain, the defending world champions, began on a disastrous note as skip Bruce Mouat attempted a complicated takeout but ended up clearing out a couple of his own team’s stones, giving Italy a steal of four points in the first end.

A frustrated Mouat kicked out at a stone and then got back to work, nailing a double takeout in the fourth end to reduce the deficit before another stolen point left the score at 5-4 to Italy at the halfway mark.

With momentum slowly shifting towards the top-ranked British side after it leveled at 7-7 in the penultimate end, Retornaz sealed two points with the final stone to secure the win.

“It’s good for us, it’s good for the fans, and those are the games you want to be in,” Retornaz said.

“Something changes in the head because you have those four points (in the first end), but that’s what you have to fight also.

“You have to fight your mindset because you cannot rely on those four points in the first end out of ten. The game is too long.”

Brad Jacobs’ Canada also picked up a comfortable 6-3 win over Danny Casper’s United States, while Yannick Schwaller-led Switzerland beat the Czech Republic 7-3. Norway defeated China 8-6 in a hard-fought encounter which went into an extra end.

US WOMEN BEAT CANADA

In the women’s competition, Tabitha Peterson’s United States team claimed the country’s first-ever Olympic victory over neighbors Canada.

Two-time world champion and top-ranked Canada, led by Rachel Homan, had a slender lead heading into the final end but the United States had the hammer and Peterson sealed a 9-8 win.

Both nations have competed at every Games since curling’s return to the official program in 1998, but the U.S. women’s team has won no medals, while Canada has won two golds, a silver and a pair of bronzes.

Asked what it was like to record a first Games win over Canada, Peterson said: “That’s what I just heard too. I know we came close in the past. Great time to beat the number one team … It was a good game, it was a good battle.”

The U.S. women’s team includes Cory Thiesse, who became the first American woman to win an Olympic curling medal when she and partner Korey Dropkin won silver in mixed doubles earlier in these Games.

Britain suffered its second defeat in as many games, losing 9-3 to South Korea, while Silvana Tirinzoni’s Switzerland beat China 7-5.

Anna Hasselborg’s Sweden saw out a narrow 6-5 win over Denmark, which moved the team to the top of the standings with a 3-0 record.

Teams play nine matches in the round-robin stage, which continues on Friday. The top four advance to the semifinals next week.

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

Villanova’s season of redemption has incurred few blemishes, and the Wildcats have the opportunity to remedy one of them Saturday afternoon when they take on Creighton in Omaha, Neb.

First-year coach Kevin Willard has Villanova on the cusp of its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2022, when Jay Wright’s swan song concluded with his fourth Final Four appearance.

After three subpar seasons compared to Wright’s program standards, the Wildcats (19-5, 10-3 Big East) are back on track, having won four straight games.

Tyler Perkins, who leads the team in scoring, had 22 points and eight rebounds and Acaden Lewis added 15 points and five assists as Villanova knocked off visiting Marquette 77-74 on Tuesday.

“The growth has been fun to watch. It’s a great group to be around. They work hard, bring a great attitude. To put ourselves with 10 wins and three losses in Big East play is not me,” Willard said. ” … I think we’ve matured a lot. Acaden is playing like one of the best point guards in the country.

After making just three starts and averaging 6.3 points last season, Perkins has emerged for Villanova, especially during the Big East portion of the schedule. He is averaging 13.5 points, 15.8 in conference play and 18.0 over the last eight games.

The Wildcats are 5-1 away from home in conference play, with their only true road losses coming against Top-10 foes in Michigan and UConn. But the Bluejays (13-12, 7-7) have been a thorn in Villanova’s side lately.

Creighton has won four straight in the series, including a 76-72 triumph at Villanova last month. Austin Swartz led the way in that game for the Bluejays with 20 points, followed by Josh Dix and Blake Harper with 17 points apiece.

However, the team is reeling late, dropping six of nine games since that victory. Last time out, Creighton had a 72-71 setback at DePaul on Wednesday. Swartz led the Bluejays, who saw their 23-game win streak against the Blue Demons come to an end, with 15 points.

“Just really unfortunate, because we shot the ball well,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “We did some good things well, but free-throw block-out, second-chance points, at the rim, it’s kind of a broken record. It’s been our weakness all season long.

–Field Level Media

American skier Lindsey Vonn is set to have a fourth surgery Saturday on the fractured tibia she sustained in her downhill run at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Feb. 8.

Vonn shared the update on her Instagram account Friday, sharing that she may be able to return to the United States after this surgery to continue her recovery from the complex fracture closer to home.

“Hey guys, I just wanted to give you a little update and say thank you so much to everyone that has been sending me flowers and letters,” Vonn said in the video, resting her head on a shark pillow she received while in the hospital. “It’s just been so amazing and really helped me a lot.

“It has been quite a hard few days in the hospital here. I’m finally feeling more like myself. I have a long, long way to go. Tomorrow I’ll have another surgery and hopefully that goes well and then I can potentially leave and go back home, at which point I will need another surgery. Still don’t know exactly what that entails yet until I get some better imaging, but it’s kind of where I am right now.”

Vonn, 41, is being treated at a hospital in Treviso, Italy, after crashing 13 seconds into her downhill run when her arm hooked around a gate, sending her flying into the snow and breaking her leg.

She was competing through a torn ACL in her left knee sustained nine days prior to her event in the final tune-up race at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, the latest hurdle in an injury-plagued career that saw her win three Olympic medals (one gold) and more than 80 World Cup races before initially retiring in 2019. Vonn appeared to still be in medal contention, finishing with the third-best time in the final training run.

Vonn said in the video she is “very much immobile” but expressed gratitude for friends and family members who have visited her and being able to watch her fellow U.S. competitors in the Olympics to distract her.

“I feel very lucky and fortunate to have so many people around me that have really helped me get through this, so I just wanted to say thank you and go Team USA,” Vonn said. “It’s been so great to watch and really lifted my spirits. Good job, team, and keep crushing it. I’ll check in with you guys when I can.”

–Field Level Media