Russia Beats Norway to Win Curling Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal at 2018 Olympics

The Olympic Athletes from Russia earned the bronze medal in mixed doubles curling after an 8-4 victory over Norway Monday night (Tuesday morning in Pyeongchang, South Korea).

Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnitckii are now technically the first-ever medal winners in mixed doubles with the new event being created for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The gold and silver medals will be decided in the upcoming match between Canada and Switzerland.

The Olympic Athletes from Russia were actually outscored by six rocks in nine matches this tournament, but they had a knack for coming through in key moments to help them earn the bronze.

Bryzgalova and Krushelnitckii were especially efficient in this battle, earning an 81 percent success rate on their shots.

Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten weren't quite as effective, neither hitting better than 65 percent of their attempts. Skaslien especially struggled with the last rock, allowing the Russians to earn steals in the second and seventh ends.

The first mistake allowed OAR to go up 3-0, forcing Norway to play catch-up the rest of the match and requiring near perfect shots to get back into the competition. The second steal came after OAR's rock placement made it too difficult to create a successful draw:

The Russians then sealed the match with a third steal in the eighth, as Norway was unable to come through with the three-point comeback.

Both teams did a good job turning the last rock into high point totals throughout the match, with the Russians scoring two points in the first and fourth end and Norway earning two in the third and fifth. This had been an issue for both squads throughout the tournament, but they were able to post high scores in this one.

However, consistency was the difference to decide the bronze medal.

The Olympic Athletes from Russia narrowly lost their semifinal match on a poor final shot, while Norway was forced to concede in the eighth end of their matchup with Canada. The teams began this match on even ground, but OAR was too good and earned a spot on the medal stand.

Canada and Switzerland will now compete for the gold medal in mixed doubles curling Tuesday (6:05 a.m. ET, 8:05 p.m. local). The men's and women's competitions will begin with the round-robin matches Wednesday in South Korea.