It has taken them nearly a fortnight. But after a few painful failures, and plenty of frustration, Team GB finally have their first guaranteed medal of these Winter Olympics.
It came via the British men’s curlers, who beat the US team 8-4 in a nervy semi-final that was only resolved in the 10th and final end. The quartet, who will now leave Beijing with at least a silver medal, will now take on Sweden in Saturday’s final.
After victory was sealed, the team’s skip Bruce Mouat screamed so loudly he reckoned it could have been heard all the way back in Scotland, where the team trains. But it was born of joy and relief – a sentiment shared by the large group of Team GB staff that gathered in support.
“The reaction that I showed, the scream at the end, was a release of tension and pressure,” explained Mouat. “And I’m really happy to be stepping into that gold medal match with these guys next to me.”
The other members of the British squad – Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan – were also delighted after recovering from an early two point deficit to beat a US team that were the reigning Olympic champions.
The British team now have the chance to emulate Rhona Howie, then Rhona Martin, who famously won Team GB’s only curling gold medal in 2002 after her “stone of destiny” at the Salt Lake Games.
“That was such a big moment for curling back home,” said Mouat. “We really want to be able to replicate something like that. If we go out and play the game we’ve played all of this week, we’ll be close to being able to have a moment like that.”
The team’s coach David Murdoch credited Mouat with a shot at the ninth end, with the game in the balance at 5-4 to Britain as having been the crucial point in the match. “There is no more pressure than that shot in the ninth end,” he said. “That was unbelievable how good that was.
“And this team is the best prepared curling team on the planet,” he added. “I have no doubts about the form they are in. If they play the way they can play, even a game like that where you have to grind it out and trust we can make that last shot to win the game, I am backing Bruce Mouat, I am telling you that.”
As he spoke Murdoch, who won a silver at the Sochi Games, began to choke up. “It’s exciting,” he explained. “We have got a shot for an Olympic title and we have prepared for that. That’s why we want to be here. We can’t wait, it will be the best game ever.”
And he is also starting to dream of a first British curling gold medal in 20 years. “Wouldn’t that be nice?” he added. “I saw Rhona waving from the stands and that is a nice omen to have. Hopefully she can bring that stone of destiny towards us.”
Meanwhile, another British medal at these Games could quickly emerge after Team GB’s women curlers surprisingly qualified for the semi-finals earlier on Thursday.
Few had given Eve Muirhead’s squad much of a chance after a few patchy group stage performances but an unlikely combination of results in the final round of matches – and the curling equivalent of goal difference – saw them sneak into the final four.
First Muirhead’s squad thumped the Russian Olympic Committee 9-4. But that was only half the battle and they needed the other results to go their way to leave them in a three-way tie for the two remaining qualifying spots.
But as Team GB had the best draw-shot challenge – an average of the accuracy of each team’s last stone draw in every match – they secured third place ahead of Japan, with Canada eliminated.
“I knew that our first job was to beat Russia. That was our first priority and that’s what I gave everything to,” said Muirhead, whose team will face Sweden in the semi-finals. “It’s very hard to concentrate fully for three hours, however, so I’m not going to lie, I had one eye looking across at the other games.”
“We knew we needed three results to go our way,” she added. “If you looked on paper it was all the top ranked teams that had to win, so it was more than an outside chance that was going to happen. But of course when we woke up this morning I had nerves, the same as the other girls.”
