Sweden Beats South Korea to Win Women's Curling Gold Medal at 2018 Olympics

Sweden's dominance in women's curling continued with an 8-3 victory over South Korea to win the gold medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. 

Leading by two heading into the seventh end, Sweden was able to put the match away with three points thanks to Anna Hasselborg knocking South Korea's stone out of the second ring to give her team three stones in the house. 

South Korea, competing in its first ever gold-medal match at the Olympics, struggled to find a breakthrough against the powerhouse Swedish team. It did take an early 1-0 advantage in the first end, but couldn't find an answer after Sweden took the lead two ends later. 

Hasselborg and Sofia Mabergs were outstanding in the win, as they were throughout the Olympics. The duo combined to throw 35 game stones, finishing with 17 draws and 18 takeouts. Mabergs was 100 percent perfect in both categories. 

This match followed a similar pattern as Sweden's semifinal win over Great Britain. The Swedish team started slow, settling for a 3-3 tie after five ends, before turning things on down the stretch with five combined points in the sixth and seventh ends. 

After a methodical start against the South Korean team, Sweden was finally ready for its breakthrough moment in the seventh end. 

When Sweden tacked on an additional point after the ninth end to take an 8-3 lead, South Korea conceded the match. 

Anna Fifield of the Washington Post captured the moment when South Korea went to Sweden to concede defeat:

Despite finishing one win short of the gold medal, South Korea had an outstanding run in front of its home fans. Considering this was only the country's second Olympic appearance in women's curling, after debuting in 2014, a silver medal is a huge win. 

There's also no shame in coming up short against Sweden. This marks the country's fourth straight appearance in the gold-medal match at the Olympics and third win during that span. Its only lost during that span was against Canada in 2014.