Curling - Team ROC

Competing in four Olympic Winter Games as the Russian Federation, its women’s teams have disappointed with a combined won/loss record of 12-24. Competing as Olympic Athletes of Russia (OAR) in 2018, the team finished ninth at 2-7.

While two players remain from that squad, new skip Alina Kovaleva has reignited the passion. Following the previous team’s surprise bronze at the 2018 World Championships, “Team Kova” scored an impressive silver at the 2021 World Championship – competing as Russian Curling Federation (RCF) – marking only the second time (since 2017) a Russian women’s team had made the leap past bronze status (three straight times from 2014-16). The 2021 accomplishment qualified ROC in second place for Beijing.

At European Championships, Russian teams have scored four gold medals (2006, 2012, 2015, 2016) but have finished fourth in the last three Championships. They also have one silver (2014) and a bronze (2011).

This season, Team Kovaleva is 23-12 with one World Curling Tour win in St. Petersburg, a third-place and fifth place finish at two Grand Slams in Canada, and a fourth at last November’s Europeans. They have a 8.52 points per game average versus an average of 5.86 points against.

In head-to-head matchups against the Beijing field, ROC is 33-25 over the past four seasons. They have solid records against Canada and Japan (5-1), Denmark (5-0) and Korea (5-2). Their career 5-6 record against Sweden includes four out of five victories since the 2021 worlds, but Switzerland recently has their number, having won eight straight games after losing five straight.

World Ranking: 4th (60.549 pts)

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse