Tara Peterson had just walked in the door after a training weekend in Eveleth when the Pioneer Press caught up with her on Monday.

“I just threw my bag on the floor,” she said over the phone.

She no doubt had filled a bigger bag for Wednesday’s trip to Kelowna, British Columbia, where her USA Curling team will compete, starting Friday, for one of two remaining women’s team berths in the Milano-Cortina Olympics.

Team Peterson, skipped by Peterson’s sister, Tabitha, will be one of eight international crews competing in the weeklong event with Australia, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Japan, Norway and Turkey.

Peterson’s team qualified by going 8-1 in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sioux City, S.D., last month. With an Olympics in the balance, the event will essentially be a mini-Olympics in itself.

“We’re treating it that way,” Peterson said. “We’re confident going (in), probably one of the favorites, but we’ll have to play well. The rest of the world is so good now, and getting better. It’s anybody’s game.”

In the curling tradition, the team is named after skip Tabitha, but curling enthusiasts, especially in Minnesota, know it’s a sister thing.

Tabitha, 36, and Tara, 34, grew up in Burnsville and began curling together at the St. Paul Curling Club at ages 10 and 8. They have been competing together ever since, and have been the backbone of Team Peterson. The current crew also includes Cory Thiesse and Taylor Anderson-Heidi, and will add an alternate if they advance to Milano-Cortina.

Thiesse, a world champion in mixed doubles, already has qualified for the Games in that event.

Team Peterson won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships and finished sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games. Tabitha was part of the team that finished eighth in the Pyeongchang Games in 2018. Since then, both have become mothers. Tara’s son, Eddie, turned 15 months this week.

That’s one of the reasons Team Peterson has to compete this weekend; with the sisters in and out of the lineup, the team just missed qualifying on international points.

“We’re back to full strength now and playing well,” Tara said.

The event begins Friday with a round-robin tournament, after which the first- and second-place finishers will compete for the first Olympic berth. The loser of that match will then play the third-place team for the second spot.

The Olympic Games are scheduled for Feb. 6-22.

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