Sometimes the perfect run still needs a little late-game magic.
Kipling, Saskatchewan’s Gilbert Dash and Canada’s wheelchair curling team are headed to the Paralympic gold-medal game, but they had to survive a serious scare to get there.
Canada remained unbeaten at the 2026 Winter Paralympics on Friday morning, rallying for an incredible 8-7 semifinal victory over South Korea thanks to a dramatic steal of three points in the tenth end.
The win sends Dash and the Canadians into Saturday’s gold medal game against China.
The semifinal didn’t start the way Canada would have liked.
Canada opened the scoring with a pair of points in the first end with the hammer, but Korea answered immediately with two of their own in the second. The pressure kept coming in the third end when Korea stole two more to grab a 4-2 lead.
In the fourth end, Korea forced Canada to settle for a single point, but the Canadians clawed their way back before the break with a steal in the fifth end to even the game at 4-4.
The momentum quickly shifted again in the sixth end when Korea scored three to jump out to a 7-4 lead.
Canada chipped away in the seventh with a single point with the hammer, but still trailed by two heading into the late stages of the game.
Then came the dramatic finish.
Facing elimination, Canada turned up the pressure in the tenth end and pulled off the steal of three to complete the stunning comeback and secure the 8-7 victory.
The win keeps Canada’s remarkable tournament alive.
Dash and his teammates entered the semifinal riding a historic run after becoming the first wheelchair curling team to ever go undefeated through the round robin at the Paralympics, finishing 9-0. The Canadians wrapped up that perfect preliminary round Thursday with a 6-3 win over South Korea and a 7-3 victory over the United States.
Now only one win stands between Canada and Paralympic gold.
Their opponent will be China, who finished second in the round-robin with an 8-1 record. The only blemish on China’s record came earlier in the tournament when Canada defeated them 9-4 on Tuesday.
If Canada can find one more win, Dash and the Canadians will leave the Paralympics with gold.
