STATELINE, Nev. — For the first time in its history, the Grand Slam of Curling landed in the United States, bringing world-class competition to Lake Tahoe. From Nov. 4–9, 32 elite teams from seven nations — including Olympic medalists, world champions and national titleholders from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland and Japan — competed for the prestigious GSOC titles.

The tournament kicked off at the newly transformed Tahoe Blue Event Center, where athletes battled through a week of intense round-robin play, culminating in thrilling finals at the KIOTI GSOC Tahoe.

Women’s Final: Team Homan vs. Team Tirinzoni

Canada’s Team Rachel Homan edged Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni 7-4 in a dramatic showdown. Homan built a late-game advantage after capitalizing on a series of Tirinzoni misses, scoring four stones in the eighth end to force a shootout and secure the win.

It was the third consecutive Grand Slam women’s final between the top two teams in the world rankings, with Homan winning all three. The Ottawa-based club of Homan, third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes posted a perfect 7-0 record in the tournament, earning $42,000 from the prize purse.

“Yeah, it’s an unbelievable feeling, especially winning a game that was a battle out there for both teams,” Homan told the GSOC team. “It’s just really fun to play such an amazing team, and being able to pull out the win is an awesome feeling.”

Men’s Final: Team Mouat vs. Team Dunstone

In the men’s division, Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat narrowly defeated Canada’s Team Matt Dunstone 7-6 in a nail-biting shootout decided by mere millimeters. After a back-and-forth eight ends, Mouat edged Dunstone 9.5 centimeters to 9.8 centimeters in the final draw.

The team of Mouat, third Grant Hardie, second Bobby Lammie and lead Hammy McMillan Jr. completed an undefeated 7-0 run through the first international Grand Slam of Curling tournament and earned $42,000 from the prize purse.

“That one was incredible,” Mouat told the GSOC team. “The tense moment at the end there, it’s like even when it came to rest, we still didn’t know who won. I had to ask the boys like three times — ‘Did we win? Did we win?’ — because no one was really celebrating. It was a hard-fought game for sure.”