Winter Olympics closing ceremony LIVE: Team GB women win first gold medal in curling as Beijing Games end
Follow latest updates from Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 as Team GB chase their first medal of the Games
Great Britain’s women, led by Eve Muirhead, went one better than the men in their gold medal match against Japan at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The men’s team fell short yesterday when Sweden claimed gold to deny Bruce Mouat and his team. Swedish skip Niklas Edin proved too good and repeated their victory over Great Britain in a 2014 semi-final. Muirhead overcame almost impossible odds to steer her women’s curling team into the Olympic final where she completed an incredible journey to finally fulfil an ambition that appeared beyond her after a decade at the top of her sport. Team coach Murdoch put her chances of salvaging victory at “less than 10 per cent” after shipping four shots in a disastrous opening end to defending Olympic champions Sweden, but they clawed back to clinch a thrilling 12-11 victory in an extra end.
In the final, Muirhead guided Great Britain to their first and only gold of the Games, beating Japan 10-3 to claim the joint-biggest margin of victory in a final since the sport was reintroduced in ‘98. With all events now closed and the medals handed out, it only remains for the closing ceremony to take place and the baton to be passed on to Italy.
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Team GB guaranteed medal after defeating Sweden!
Muirhead: “It’s such a team game out there. I can’t thank [reserve] Milli [Smith} enough. She’s our biggest supporter out there.
“We’ve got tomorrow off so we’ll take tonight to celebrate ourselves. After the men’s final tomorrow we’ll get back to flat ground.
“No one likes to win the silver medal and we’ll be doing everything we can to win the gold.”
Team GB guaranteed medal after defeating Sweden!
Vicky Wright: “After the first end I thought, buckle up and here we go. I knew we could pull it out the bag. We put a lot of pressure on Sweden on we got there in the end.”
Team GB guaranteed medal after defeating Sweden!
Eve Muirhead, speaking to the BBC: “Third time lucky! I’ve lost two semi-finals before and I was desperate for it. I’m so proud of these girls. We’ve dug so deep. I’m speechless right now and I can’t believe we’re in an Olympic final.”
Team GB guaranteed medal after defeating Sweden!
What a weekend this could be for Team GB and their curlers.
Bruce Moaut’s men’s team will play Sweden tomorrow afternoon before Eve Muirhead and her side will face Japan in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Two matches, two chances for gold.
Team GB guaranteed medal after defeating Sweden!
What a weekend this could be for Team GB and their curlers.
Bruce Moaut’s men’s team will play Sweden tomorrow afternoon before Eve Muirhead and her side will face Japan in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Two matches, two chances for gold.
Team GB guaranteed medal after defeating Sweden!
Brilliant scenes at the end as Muirhead and Team GB celebrate their victory - what a match that was!
At 12-11, in what the highest scoring match of the tournament so far.
And for the first time since winning gold in 2002, Team GB have a women’s curling team back in a gold medal match.
Eve Muirhead will go for Winter Olympics gold for the first time of her career - and on her fourth Games appearance.
Winter Olympics: Team GB 12-11 Sweden
Into the extra end we go... and GB have the advantage with the hammer in hand.
Duff plays a couple of solid shots to open up, with the rink split by two red and yellow stones on either side of the centre.
Dodds can then clear one of those guards, which Sweden reestablish high and central.
But that’s brilliant from Wright - she clears both guards with a fine angle, leaving a yellow stone handing on the edge of the ring.
Sweden go for the same line, but McManus leaves her stone open and Wright can clear it up.
Over to Muirhead... Hasselborg dropped her penultimate shot to the back right corner and Muirhead makes contact to nestle it inside.
AND THEY’VE DONE IT! TEAM GB ARE IN THE FINAL!
Winter Olympics: Team GB 11-11 Sweden
Sweden need three - can they get it?
Team GB find two early back markers in the house, but Sweden’s are in a good position on top of them.
Muirhead draws a curling effort that catches the Sweden stone and pushes it further inwards.
Sweden come in straight with their penultimate stone, edging one of their outliers back inside, but it didn’t get enough curl.
But, with time running out, Hasselborg replies with a stunning shot to take three points and force an extra end!
There was just enough power to push the GB stone out!
Winter Olympics: Team GB 11-8 Sweden
Another end, another crowded house. After Sweden set a high screen, Duff and Dodds play their opening shots into the ring. The Sweden stones that join them are sticking out slightly and look vulnerable.
McManus responds to get a red back in the middle - but that’s a brilliant shot from Wright! She knocks out a red stone and finds the angle to put another yellow back in the middle. Make that five.
The reds anre outnumbered but McManus is able to nudge a stone closer to the centre. Wright responds with a pacy shot, it keeps five yellows in the middle but crucially the stone closest to the centre is a red one.
Muirhead decides to clear the high guard, now how many yellows can Sweden clear here?
Only one - but the red remains in the middle of the yellow sea and there isn’t a clear angle to dislodge it...
But Muirhead finds one! It comes the shot at pace, it gets the knock and finds the angle to dislodge the red stone from the other side!
FOUR points for Team GB!
Winter Olympics: Team GB 7-8 Sweden
GB kick off the eighth end while Sweden have the hammer in hand. Duff sets up two high screens, before Dodds draws a shot in front of the Sweden stone that is sitting in the centre.
Sweden try to clear one of the high screens but send it crashing back to the side of the house - not what they intended.
Dodds gets her second shot nestled inside to make it two yellows in the centre, with Sweden making it an even more crowded in the middle.
Wright stuffs another yellow in there, and then Sweden reply with their own attempt! There are six stones within a couple of metres of each other.
There is a hole for Wright to go after, though, and a couple more sweeps could have seen Team GB play a perfect shot. Instead it rather blocks the hole.
Here comes the knockout shot! And it’s a great strike from McManus - sending a couple of yellow stones out of the pack and leaving the red untouched in the middle.
Muirhead places a yellow in between the two central reds - sparking a lengthy discussion between the Sweden team and their coach. They strip away the high guard.
Two big shots coming up here...
Muirhead goes for touch... and it’s a brilliant shot! Nudging a couple of yellow stones off each other to edge into the middle and take the place of the Swede.
On the final shot of the end, Sweden are able to knock it away after working the angles and triggering the collision.
Just the one point for them, which GB will take as the take the hammer back.
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