Britain’s agonising wait for a gold medal at the Beijing Games continued on Saturday as their men’s curling team were rolled over by a former Swedish tank commander.

Millions of early risers, including the players’ family and friends, who had gathered at Edinburgh Curl ice rink, watched as the Team GB quartet played their part in a match of supreme quality and unbearable tension – only to succumb 5-4 to Sweden after a sudden-death extra end.

It was a heartbreaking moment for the British men, who are world champions. However, they had no answer to a Swedish team led by Niklas Edin, who confirmed his status as the greatest player in history by winning his first Olympic title.

“Losing in the final is going to sting for a while,” said Hammy McMillan Jr. “Right now it is very raw. We put this team together four and half, five years ago to stand on top of the podium. We just fell a bit short.”

A more upbeat message was struck by the Team GB skip, Bruce Mouat, who became the first openly gay British athlete to win a Winter Olympics medal. “I do feel pretty proud of myself,” he said. “And I’m proud of my guys as well. I’m just still a bit raw. It’s just I don’t know how to describe it. But I’m sure down the line I’ll feel pretty good about this medal. It’s pretty heavy. So that’s pretty cool. But I’m still trying to soak it all in.”

In a three-hour match of millimetres – an extraordinarily well-judged shot here, a kind roll there – Sweden always seemed in control and crucially had the hammer, or last shot, when the game went to an extra end.

But with curling once again captivating the nation, Mouat’s next hope is that the success of the men and women’s team will inspire more ice rinks to open around the UK. “I really hope that happens,” he said. “I hope that curling takes off a wee bit more in Britain. I’d like to see ice rinks across the entire nation, not just Scotland. Hopefully, participation levels go up in England, Wales and Scotland as well. We would love to see the sport continue when we are old and looking back.”

The men’s ascent to the top of their sport had been built on hard data and heavy squats; Moneyball and muscle. In recent years, Mouat has stressed his use of analytics, saying his team is always looking for that extra one or two per cent to beat the world’s best – while during the pandemic the British team had more time to go to the gym, which also helped their sweeping game.

However, in the 36-year-old Sweden skip, Edin, they were confronted by a former tank commander who had the added experience that proved crucial. Few here begrudged Edin, who was one of the last Swedes to undergo compulsory military service, his victory. Not only has he had 10 operations in the past decade due to a hereditary condition in his joints, but in Pyeongchang four years ago he also made the crucial mistake when his team were favourites to win gold.

But the bad news for Britain is that he plans to carry on. “I wouldn’t be sad to win more gold medals,” he said, smiling.

Such was the quality of Edin’s play at the National Aquatic Centre that Britain’s coach, David Murdoch said: “There’s no bigger stage than an Olympic final and to come out there and make some of the shots he did was incredible.” The guys tried to make big questions of him – can he make those perfect shots? – and he did.”

“He is the greatest in history. He’s won five world championships and Olympic gold, silver and bronze. There’s no doubt he’s the best.”

Britain’s last chance to win gold at these Games will come in the early hours of Sunday morning when their women’s curlers face Japan. However, barring an unlikely medal from the four-man bobsleigh team, who stand sixth after two runs, Team GB will fall short of its target of three to seven medals.

That will provoke some soul-searching, especially given that big-money investments in skeleton and snowsports did not lead to any medals. However, there was at least some solace when the prospect of a blank Olympics – which would have been the first since Albertville in 1992 – subsided on the final weekend.

But there was more disappointment for Team GB on Saturday as Gus Kenworthy crashed twice in the halfpipe before a final run earned him eighth. Meanwhile, Andrew Musgrave was left unhappy when the men’s 50km cross-country race was shortened to 30km due to inclement weather. He finished 12th, more than two minutes behind the winner, Alexander Bolshunov of ROC.