Sweden’s Norberg sweeps her way to second straight curling gold

Sweden’s Anette Norberg has cemented her place in curling history.

Norberg clinched her second straight Olympic gold medal, defending her title against Canada’s Cheryl Bernard 7-6 in extra ends at the Vancouver Olympic Centre on Friday afternoon.

Team Sweden, consisting of skip Norberg, third Eva Lund, second Cathrine Lindahl lead Anna Le Moine and alternate Kasja Bergstroem, were inconsistent during the gold-medal game but curled almost perfectly over the last two ends to steal the gold medal away from Canada.

Sweden took the first significant lead of the game in the fifth end, as Norberg made a very close draw to the button for her second deuce of the first half and a 4-2 lead.

Norberg’s defensive game was especially strong against the Canadians holding them to singles through the first six ends.

Canada put some pressure on the Swedes in the seventh end, as Bernard sacrificed one of her own stones to give the Canadians better rock position, leading to a steal of two and a shift in momentum.

Bernard was leading by two in the tenth frame and had a shot to win the game, only to succumb to her nerves and leave a Swedish rock in the rings, allowing Norberg an easy draw to score two and force the extra end.

Team Canada had another shot at victory in the eleventh but Bernard was again unable to execute the double take out with her last, giving up a steal of one and the victory.

Norberg: One of the best ever?

With a second Olympic gold added to her resume, Norberg is in elite company in the game of curling.

No other country has won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in women’s curling.

Norberg has been one of the most successful female skips of all time and has had no problem claiming some of curling’s top prizes.

She has won the world championship twice and has claimed the European championship a whopping seven times throughout her career in addition to her Olympic success.