U.S. Women Out; Men Lose to Japan

Denmark is one curling victory away from its first Winter Olympics medal in any sport. The U.S. women’s team is simply out.

The American women finished 2-5 in the first Olympic women’s tournament despite beating Japan, 10-2, in its final round-robin match at Karuizawa. They tied with Japan and Norway for fifth place, only one ahead of last-place Germany (1-6).

Denmark is the story of the women’s tournament so far, beating Norway 8-3 to finish the round-robin phase 5-2. The Danes will play Sweden (6-1) in one semifinal, with defending world champion Canada (6-1) playing Britain (4-3) in the other.

Denmark qualified despite lacking the mountains and winter sports facilities of its Scandinavian neighbors Norway and Sweden, which have long been powers in the Winter Games. Denmark has only one curling rink--and that has only one sheet of ice.

Most of the Danish players practice in Helsingborg, Sweden, about 90 minutes from their homes.

The U.S. men (2-4) lost to Japan, 8-6, as the Japanese rallied from a 5-4 deficit by scoring four times in the eighth end.

The American men must beat Britain on Friday, then hope Switzerland (4-2) defeats defending world champion Sweden (3-3) and Germany (1-5) beats Japan (2-4) to force a tie for the fourth spot in the semifinals.