Tabitha Skelly Peterson (born March 6, 1989) is an American
curler from
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
.
She was a bronze medalist at the
2010 World Junior Championships and is a three-time women's national champion. She currently is
skip
Skip or Skips may refer to:
Acronyms
* SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene
* Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol
* SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aiding ...
of her own team, having traded positions with
Nina Roth during the 2020 off-season.
Career
Junior
As a junior, Peterson was a four-time state champion curler and won
U.S. national junior championships in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, Peterson played third on her junior rink,
skipped by
Alexandra Carlson. After winning the U.S. junior title, the team would represent the United States at the
2009 World Junior Curling Championships
The 2009 World Junior Curling Championships were held from 5 March 2009 to 15 March 2009 in the newly completed Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre, which was the site for curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, st ...
. The team finished the round robin with a 4–5 record, finishing 5th. In 2010, the Carlson rink won another U.S. junior title, sending the team to the
2010 World Junior Curling Championships
The 2010 World Junior Curling Championships were held from March 5 to 14 at the Waldhaus Arena in Flims, Switzerland.
Men
Teams
Round-robin standings
''Final round-robin standings''
Round-robin results
Draw 1
''Saturday, March 6, 14:00 ...
. At the 2010 World Juniors, the team finished the round robin in a tie for third place with a 6–3 record. The team won their first playoff match against Switzerland's
Manuela Siegrist before losing in the semi-final to Sweden's
Anna Hasselborg. That demoted the team to the bronze medal game, where they defeated Switzerland again to finish third overall.
2010–2014
After her junior career ended in 2010, Peterson joined the
Allison Pottinger rink at
lead
Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...
position. In their first year together, the team lost in the final of the
2011 United States Women's Curling Championship to
Patti Lank. The following season, they avenged this loss by beating
Cassandra Johnson's rink to win the
2012 United States Women's Curling Championship
The 2012 United States Women's Curling Championship took place from February 11 to 18 at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pennsylvania (with the host city being listed as Philadelphia). It was held in conjunction with the 2012 United St ...
. This sent the Pottinger team to the
2012 Ford World Women's Curling Championship to represent the U.S. The team finished the round robin at the 2012 Worlds in a tie with Canada's
Heather Nedohin for fourth place and a 7–4 record. However, Canada beat the team in the tie-breaker, forcing the U.S. to settle for 5th. The following season, the team won a bronze medal at the
2013 United States Women's Curling Championship. The team found more success in the 2013–14 season. They won one
World Curling Tour
The World Curling Tour (WCT) is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and Doubles curling, mixed doubles curlers in the world.
History
The World Curling Tour was founded by former World Champion Ed Lukowich, with later ass ...
(WCT) event over the season, the 2013
Kamloops Crown of Curling. Their success on the World Curling Tour gave them enough points to qualify for the
2014 Ford World Women's Curling Championship
The 2014 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as Ford World Women's Curling Championship 2014 for sponsorship reasons) was held from 15 to 23 March at the Harbour Station in Saint John, New Brunswick.
In the final, Switzerland, skippe ...
, following new rules made by the
United States Curling Association
The United States Curling Association (USCA or USA Curling) is the national governing body of the sport of curling in the United States. The goal of the USCA is to grow the sport of curling in the United States and win medals in competitions bot ...
, which based World Championship qualifying on Order of Merit points rather than winning the U.S. Championship. At World's Team Pottinger finished sixth, with a record of 6–5. As for the
U.S. Championship that season, the team ended up losing in the final to
Nina Spatola (now Nina Roth).
2014–2019
For the 2014–15 season, Peterson joined
Nina Roth as lead. Team Roth finished fifth at the
2015 National Championship just outside of the playoffs. Peterson claimed another World Curling Tour event win at the 2014 Twin Cities Open.
At the
2016 National Championship, Peterson played
third
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system
Places
* 3rd Street (di ...
for skip
Jamie Sinclair. The team finished the round robin with a 5–1 record but lost in the
page playoff
The Page playoff system is a playoff format. It is used in top level competitions in softball, curling, and the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League, and Bangladesh Premier League cricket tournaments, and is used widely in lower level comp ...
3v4 game to
Cory Christensen's team. The US Champion team, skipped by
Erika Brown, added Peterson as alternate for the 2016 World Championships, where the team finished 6th. Also in 2016 Peterson joined with
Joe Polo to compete at the United States
Mixed Doubles
Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis, and badminton (where it is known ...
World Trials. They finished with an impressive 9–1 record, earning them a spot at the
2016 World Mixed Doubles Championship in
Karlstad, Sweden. Peterson and Polo finished the round robin group play undefeated, losing to Team Russia in the semifinals. In the bronze medal match, they defeated Team Scotland 9–7.
For the 2016–17 season, Peterson was back playing with Roth's women's team, this time as third. Team Roth won the
Molson Cash Spiel that year, a WCT event. At the
2017 National Championship, they earned a silver medal when they lost to their former teammate Jamie Sinclair in the final. Peterson's team represented the United States at the
2017 Americas Challenge, where they beat Brazil to qualify the U.S. for the
2017 World Championship. Due to the United States Curling Association's point system at the time, they also got to compete at the 2017 World's despite not being the National Champions. At World's Peterson and Team USA finished fifth with a record of 6–5.
At the
2017 US Mixed Doubles Championship, Peterson and teammate Joe Polo earned the silver medal losing to the brother and sister duo of
Matt
Matt may refer to:
*Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt
*In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance)
*Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...
and
Becca Hamilton in the final. Later in 2017, Peterson and Polo competed at the first
United States Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials, where they finished tied for fifth with a record of 3–4.
Just a month before competing at the Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials, Peterson and her women's team defeated Jamie Sinclair's team in a best-of-three final at the
2017 United States Olympic Curling Trials to earn the right to represent the United States at the
2018 Winter Olympics
The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...
. At the Olympics, Team Roth finished with a 4–5 record, missing the playoffs. Due to competing at the Olympics, Team Roth opted not to compete in the
2018 US National Championships.
In 2019 Peterson returned to both the United States
Women's Championship
The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...
and
Mixed Doubles Championship. In a repeat of the 2017 National Championship final, Peterson's women's team of Nina Roth, Becca Hamilton, and sister Tara Peterson lost to Jamie Sinclair in the final. At the Mixed Doubles Championship, Peterson and Polo went undefeated through the round robin section of the tournament but ultimately lost in the semifinal to eventual champions Cory Christensen and
John Shuster.
2019–2022
Peterson skipped Team Roth during the
2019–20 season as Nina Roth was on maternity leave. They had a semifinal finish at the
2019 Tour Challenge Grand Slam event. At the
2020 United States Women's Championship, Peterson earned her second national title and first as skip. In the round robin, Team Peterson's only loss came against Jamie Sinclair, but they then beat Team Sinclair in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game and again in the final. As United States Champions Team Peterson would have represented the United States at the
2020 World Women's Curling Championship, but they lost that opportunity when the Championship was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. They also earned a spot at the final
Grand Slam of the season, the
Champions Cup, which was also cancelled due to the pandemic. Their qualification will instead carry over to the
2021 Champions Cup.
At the
2020 US Mixed Doubles Championship, Peterson and Polo again faced Christensen and Shuster, but this time in the final, and they won 7–4. This was their first mixed doubles national title and earned them a spot at the
2020 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and the
2021 United States mixed doubles curling Olympic trials. But about a month before the World Championship was supposed to begin the
World Curling Federation
World Curling, formerly the World Curling Federation (WCF) is the world governing body for curling accreditation, with offices in Perth, Scotland. It was formed out of the International Curling Federation (ICF), when the push for Olympic Winter ...
announced its cancellation due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The following year the United States Curling Association announced that the
2021 US Mixed Doubles Championship would be postponed until after the
2021 World Mixed Doubles due to the pandemic, and so as 2020 national champions Peterson and Polo were invited to represent the United States at the 2021 Worlds.
During the 2020 off-season, the team announced that Peterson would remain as skip when Roth returned from maternity leave. Roth re-joined the team as vice-skip at third, with Hamilton moving to second, Tara Peterson to lead, and Geving to alternate. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Peterson team did not compete in events for most of the
2020–21 season until entering a
bio-secure bubble
A bio-secure bubble, also known as a bubble, or hub city, was a hosting arrangement for sporting events that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, under which events were held at a centralized site, often behind closed doors, with strict quarant ...
held in
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...
in the spring of 2021 for three events in a row. The first two events were the Champions Cup and
Players' Championship
The Players' Championship, currently known as the AMJ Players' Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the final event of the Grand Slam of Curling tour, and is formerly the championship of the World Curling Tour season.
From 2016 to 2019, i ...
grand slams, with Peterson missing the playoffs at both. The third event in the Calgary bubble for Team Peterson was the
2021 World Women's Championship, in which they earned a spot as 2020 National Champions after the
2021 National Championship was moved to later in the spring due to the pandemic. They finished the 13 game round-robin in fifth place with a 7–6 record, earning them a spot in the playoffs and securing a
2022 Olympic berth for the United States. In the playoffs, Team Peterson defeated Denmark's
Madeline Dupont but lost to Switzerland's
Silvana Tirinzoni
Silvana Petra Tirinzoni (born 25 June 1979) is a Swiss curler from Zurich. She is a four-time women's world champion skip (, , , ) and five-time Grand Slam champion. She is a former world junior champion and reigning European champion. Tirinzo ...
to end up in the bronze medal game. There, Peterson faced off against Sweden's
Anna Hasselborg and won with a score of 9–5, including scoring five points in the seventh end.
Team Peterson's bronze medal finish was the first World Women's medal for the United States in 15 years, and the first-ever bronze medal. Right after the World Championship, Peterson traveled to
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
to compete in the
2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship with Joe Polo. There, the pair finished the round robin with a 5–4 record. This put them in a qualification game against Czech Republic for the seventh direct spot at the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...
, which they lost 8–6.
The Peterson rink won their first two events of the
2021–22 season, the
US Open of Curling
The Curve US Open of Curling is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, held at the Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine, Minnesota. It was held as part of the men's World Curling Tour from 2014 to 2019 and as part of the women's WCT from 2 ...
and the
2021 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic.
The following week, they played in the
2021 Masters where they made it as far as the quarterfinals. The team then played in the
2021 United States Olympic Curling Trials, where they attempted to return to the Olympics. The team posted a 9–1 record through the round robin, putting them into the best-of-three final against
Cory Christensen. The Peterson rink beat Christensen in two-straight games, booking their tickets to the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...
.
After the Trials, the team played in one event before the Olympics, the
Curl Mesabi Classic, which they won, beating Christensen again in the final. At the Olympics, Peterson led the United States to a 4–5 record, missing the playoffs.
The team finished off the season by playing in two Slams, the
2022 Players' Championship
The 2022 Players' Championship, Princess Auto Players' Championship was held April 12–17 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ontario. It was the fourth Grand Slam of Curling, Grand Slam and final major of the 2021–22 curling season, f ...
and the
2022 Champions Cup, missing the playoffs in both events. In mixed doubles that season, she and Joe Polo played in the
2021 United States mixed doubles curling Olympic trials, where they posted a 5–4 round robin record. This put them in a tiebreaker, which they won. In the 3 vs. 4 game, they were not as successful, losing to
Jamie Sinclair and
Rich Ruohonen.
The Peterson rink won their first two events of the
2021–22 season, the
US Open of Curling
The Curve US Open of Curling is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, held at the Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine, Minnesota. It was held as part of the men's World Curling Tour from 2014 to 2019 and as part of the women's WCT from 2 ...
and the
2021 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic.
The following week, they played in the
2021 Masters where they made it as far as the quarterfinals. The team then played in the
2021 United States Olympic Curling Trials, where they attempted to return to the Olympics. The team posted a 9–1 record through the round robin, putting them into the best-of-three final against
Cory Christensen. The Peterson rink beat Christensen in two-straight games, booking their tickets to the
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...
.
After the Trials, the team played in one event before the Olympics, the
Curl Mesabi Classic, which they won, beating Christensen again in the final. At the Olympics, Peterson led the United States to a 4–5 record, missing the playoffs.
The team finished off the season by playing in two Slams, the
2022 Players' Championship
The 2022 Players' Championship, Princess Auto Players' Championship was held April 12–17 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ontario. It was the fourth Grand Slam of Curling, Grand Slam and final major of the 2021–22 curling season, f ...
and the
2022 Champions Cup, missing the playoffs in both events. In mixed doubles that season, she and Joe Polo played in the
2021 United States mixed doubles curling Olympic trials, where they posted a 5–4 round robin record. This put them in a tiebreaker, which they won. In the 3 vs. 4 game, they were not as successful, losing to
Jamie Sinclair and
Rich Ruohonen.
2022–present
Following the 2021–22 season, Nina Roth retired from competitive curling and the team added Cory Thiesse (née Christensen) as their new third. After a semifinal finish at the US Open of Curling, the team missed the playoffs at both the
2022 National and the
2022 Tour Challenge
The 2022 HearingLife Tour Challenge was held from October 18 to 23 at the Coca-Cola Centre in Grande Prairie, Alberta. It was the second Grand Slam event of the 2022–23 curling season.
During the draw to the button before the semifinal game ...
Slam events. They represented the United States at the
2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships
The inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championships were held from October 31 to November 6 at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta. The event was used to qualify teams for the 2023 World Curling Championships ...
where they finished first in the round robin with a 7–1 record. They then lost to South Korea and Canada in the semifinal and bronze medal game respectively, finishing fourth. In their next event, Team Peterson reached the semifinals of the
Red Deer Curling Classic where they lost to
Rachel Homan
Rachel Catherine Homan (born April 5, 1989) is a Canadian international curling, curler and the reigning women's world champion. Homan is a former 2010 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, Canadian junior champion, a five-time Scotties Tourna ...
. At the
2022 Masters, the team made it to the semifinals before losing to the Einarson rink. The following week, they won the Curl Mesabi Classic. In the new year, the team went undefeated to claim the
2023 United States Women's Curling Championship, defeating
Delaney Strouse 8–5 in the final. This qualified them for the
2023 World Women's Curling Championship where they finished just outside the playoffs with a 6–6 record. The team ended their season at the
2023 Players' Championship and the
2023 Champions Cup Grand Slam events where they reached the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively.
Team Peterson won their second event of the
2023–24 season, losing just one game en route to claiming the US Open of Curling. They also had a semifinal finish at the
2023 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and a quarterfinal appearance at the
2023 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic. For the
2023 Pan Continental Curling Championships
The 2023 Pan Continental Curling Championships were held from October 29 to November 4 at the Kelowna Curling Club in Kelowna, British Columbia. The event was used to qualify teams for the 2024 World Curling Championships. Both men's and wome ...
, the team changed their lineup with Tara Peterson and Becca Hamilton switching positions to second and lead on the team respectively. The move worked as they finished 6–1 through the round robin. After a semifinal loss to Japan's
Satsuki Fujisawa, Team Peterson bounced back to claim the bronze medal, stealing in an extra end to defeat Canada's
Kerri Einarson. In Grand Slam play, they only qualified in one of the four events they played in, the
2023 Masters, losing in the quarterfinals to
Silvana Tirinzoni
Silvana Petra Tirinzoni (born 25 June 1979) is a Swiss curler from Zurich. She is a four-time women's world champion skip (, , , ) and five-time Grand Slam champion. She is a former world junior champion and reigning European champion. Tirinzo ...
. At the
2024 United States Women's Curling Championship, the Peterson rink lost their first game to
Sarah Anderson before running the table the rest of the event. In the final, they doubled up on Team Anderson 10–5 to defend their title as national champions and qualify for the
2024 World Women's Curling Championship. At Worlds, the team struggled to find consistency, ultimately finishing 6–6 and failing to reach the playoffs for a second year in a row.
Personal life
Peterson studied at the Minnesota College of Pharmacy. She is married and is currently employed as a pharmacist. Her sister is fellow curler
Tara Peterson.
Teams
Women's
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam record
Former events
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Tabitha Petersonat the
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics (archived)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Tabitha
1989 births
Living people
American female curlers
American curling champions
Continental Cup of Curling participants
Olympic curlers for the United States
Curlers at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Curlers at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Sportspeople from Eagan, Minnesota
Sportspeople from Burnsville, Minnesota
Sportspeople from Minneapolis
21st-century American sportswomen