Australia has won its first ever Curling World Championship medal, with a historic bronze medal performance in the mixed doubles event from Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt in Fredericton, Canada.
The medal performance is Australia’s first at the World Championships, improving on their previous best result of fourth in 2019.
The 2022 Olympians made an incredible start to the event, winning Group B with a record of eight wins and one loss in the round robin standings, including victories over the Czech Republic, Estonia, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye, USA and a single loss against Japan.
Finishing first on the Group B standings advanced them directly to the semi-final, where they were matched against Scotland. In a close match with Australia trailing by just one point heading into the final end, Scotland scored the final two points to take the win with a score of nine to six, sending Australia to the bronze medal match against Estonia.
In the bronze medal game, Gill and Hewitt dominated to emerge victorious with a score of nine to two, claiming Australia’s first ever major Championship medal in Curling.
“Since 2018 we have built and built year in year out, got to the 2022 Olympics and that was a fantastic feeling, and then this year we have had close to 11 podiums, it’s impressive and I am proud of what we have done”, said the 30-year-old Hewitt from Melbourne.
“We have come up a little bit short for direct Olympic Qualification which is bittersweet, but still getting the bronze can’t be too disappointed with that.”
“It’s huge for us, we have worked really hard for this moment, and like Dean said it’s a bittersweet feeling, but definitely gives us a lot of confidence moving forward and the momentum isn’t going to stop here,” said the 25-year-old Gill from Brisbane.
Olympic Winter Institute of Australia CEO, Geoff Lipshut commented:
“This is an amazing result for two great young Australian athletes and their Australian Curling community. When we think that there is not one dedicated Curling facility in our country and still Tahli and Dean and their supporters have found a way to be close to the very best in the world.
“Congratulations also to their coach Perry Marshall and Curling Australia, who will all be very proud of this remarkable achievement.”
Ten teams qualify to compete in Curling at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina, with the eight highest ranked countries from points earned at the 2024 and 2025 World Championships. Australia just fell agonisingly short by one place, ranked ninth after the two World Championship events.
The pair will be aiming to qualify for one of the final two places in the Milano-Cortina field at the last chance Olympic Qualification Event in December 2025 in Kelowna, Canada.
Gill and Hewitt will be full of confidence following the World Championship medal and an incredible season which included 11 podiums in international tournaments which catapulted their world ranking to number three in the world.
