How it unfolded
This was the women's final of the Olympics' return to curling as a full medal sport after 74 years. Canada's berth went to Sandra Schmirler's Regina team, which had already won the Scotties and the world title three times each, with Jan Betker, Joan McCusker and Marcia Gudereit alongside her, after clearing Canada's Olympic trials. Canada finished the round robin 6-1 and met Helena Blach Lavrsen's Denmark in the final. Denmark, with Margit Portner, Dorthe Holm and Trine Qvist, was a strong European side but couldn't match Canada's handling of the last stone, and the match finished 7-5. In the men's final the same day, Patrick Hürlimann's Switzerland beat Mike Harris' Canada 9-3, splitting the two gold medals on curling's first day back as a medal event between Canada and Switzerland. Schmirler had returned from giving birth to her first child just months before the Games, and this team never reached another Olympics.
Why it still matters
This match made curling a television sport. After Nagano, Great Britain, Japan, China, South Korea and Italy all built four-year elite programmes, spreading resources and attention that had previously been concentrated in Canada and Scotland. Schmirler died in March 2000 at 36, and this final was the last major match she played; the foundation named for her remains a fixture on Canada's curling calendar today.