Unbeaten in 10 matches - nine in the round-robin stage plus a victory in the semi-finals - the duo were firm favourites in the final, despite their lack of experience in gold-medal matches.

Constantini and Mosaner had made history by just making the final, becoming the first Italians to do so at the Games, and were also the first curling team from the nation to go unbeaten in the round-robin.

It was not a straightforward victory as Norway's married couple Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten came in with plenty of experience as the reigning world silver medallists. 

Skaslien and Nedregotten stole for two in the opening end, setting down a challenge from the start, but a hard-worked second end from the Italians levelled the match.

The definitive ends came in the third and fourth, with Constantini and Mosaner stealing for one and then three by the halfway stage to go into the break with a 6-2 lead.

A score of two in the seventh gave Norway a fighting chance to level a two-point deficit in the final end, but the Italians held their nerve to get a single point and an 8-5 victory.

Sweden's Oskar Eriksson and Almida de Val claimed the bronze medal after a quality first-half showing against Britain's Bruce Mouat and Jenn Dodds.

Eriksson - the 2019 world mixed doubles champion with former partner and Olympic women's champion Anna Hasselborg - claimed world bronze with his new partner last year.

They added Olympic bronze at the expense of reigning world champions Mouat and Dodds, who scored in the opening end but then conceded four in the next after a great shot from De Val. 

Sweden went some way to sealing the victory after the third end when they stole for three, making the score 7-1. 

They stole twice more to make it 9-1, but the Britons could only reply for a score of two, ending the match after six ends with the score 9-3.

Tomorrow, the men's team event gets underway, with John Shuster's United States defending their Olympic title.