Over the years, I've occasionally chronicled or done a "pulse check" on men's tennis in the U.S., because they were lagging so far behind the U.S. women, which is also the case in soccer and, until recently, ice hockey.
But we've seen the men close the gap considerably in the last few years in tennis — they haven't quite caught up with the ladies, but they are much closer than they have been since I started paying attention.
In curling, we have the opposite dynamic — it's the American men that are far outpacing the women, with four curling teams in the top 50 compared to just one on the women's side.
That lone women's team is #18 team (Tabitha) Peterson, and they are so far ahead of all other American women teams it isn't even funny. Team Peterson finished in 4th in the Olympics after winning the U.S. Olympic Trials and the subsequent Olympic qualification event. They took down two other tournaments during the year, as well.
Sadly, however, due to their Olympic commitments, team Peterson was unable to compete in the U.S. Women's Championships that immediately followed the Olympics, and as such also were not able to compete in the Women's World Championship. That slot instead went to team (Delaney) Strouse, and they got thumped in the Worlds, finishing 2-10 and barely avoiding relegation to the "B" division of the World Championships.
The picture is far rosier for the guys. Team (John) Shuster is #8 in the world, you may remember them when he took home the gold at 2018 Olympics and who will be representing the U.S. at the upcoming World Championships. But the new face of American Men's curling is team (Daniel) Casper, who beat team Shuster at the U.S. Olympic trials, and also won the AMJ Masters Tier 2 tournament. They are ranked #14 in the world.
When I talking about these rankings, I am referring to those at DoubleTakeout.com, maintained by Ken Pomeroy. Yes, that Ken Pomeroy — the one who gives us college basketball's KenPom rankings. He's big into curling, too.
Also inside the top 50 for the Americans is team (Korey) Dropkin at #19 — more on him in a minute, and team (Caden) Hebert, who is ranked #45 in the world. In December, team Hebert won the "Junior B" World Championships, which got the Americans promoted to the top-level World Championships in February, which ... they also won. Talk about a meteoric rise.
Hebert is not yet 21, Casper is 24, and Dropkin is 30, so the future is bright for the Americans as this is a sport where the best often stay the best well into their 40s.
The other thing about Dropkin is he, like Shuster, is an Olympic medalist. But he won his (a silver) in 2026, along with partner Cory Thiesse, in mixed doubles, where the United States is at its best — Dropken and Thiesse are #2 in the world.
While the curling season is winding down, you can still catch the Men's World Championships that start this Friday (and we're the home team! Shout out to host Ogden, Utah) on CurlingChannel.tv. Alas, it is not free.
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