Niklas Edin wins sixth world curling title, leading Sweden to fourth straight crown

A dream season has ended in more glory for Niklas Edin and his Swedish curling rink.

Barely two months after clinching their maiden Olympic gold medal at Beijing 2022, Sweden won a fourth-consecutive world title by beating Canada's Brad Gushue 8–6 at the World Men's Curling Championship in Las Vegas, USA.

The championship, Edin's sixth, makes Sweden the first team to win both the Olympic and World Men's titles in the same year, and seals Edin's spot among the greats of the game.

"I think we've done a lot of special things in the last couple of years," Edin said after the win, according to World Curling.

"It just feels amazing what we've achieved, and it's come through hard work and really talking about what we want to do out there."

Edin's team included third Oskar Eriksson, second Rasmus Wranå, and lead Daniel Magnusson.

The Canadians had taken an early 3–0 lead thanks to a steal of two in the second end, but Edin had the game tied by the fourth after a steal of one of his own.

A tight tussle developed, with both skips making small errors as they looked for the tiniest advantage. The seventh end proved pivotal, as Gushue could only score one point to level the game at 5–5 despite a crowded house.

With the game at 6–6 in the final end, Gushue would miss a draw with his last shot to afford Sweden two points without Edin needing to play the hammer.

For Gushue, this also marks a second major championship medal of the season after he led his rink to Olympic bronze in Beijing.

The world silver signals the end of the current Team Gushue – Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, and Geoff Walker – as a foursome.

Gallant is leaving the Newfoundland-based team to move to Alberta with wife-to-be Jocelyn Peterman, and will go out with a third World Men's medal as part of the team.

Italy win bronze

Italy, skipped by Joël Retornaz, took bronze, their first major World Championships medal, by beating hosts USA 13–4 in just eight ends.

It caps a successful year for Italian curling, which also claimed mixed doubles Olympic gold in Beijing.