Try Curling: Britain Lose 9-6 to Canada as Mouat’s Side Take Silver in Olympic Final

Great Britain’s men’s curling team settled for silver after a 9-6 defeat to Canada in Saturday’s Olympic final. For fans inspired to try curling, the match underlined how decisive late ends and a single failed sequence can be at the highest level.

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The gold-medal match finished 9-6 in Canada’s favour after Great Britain faltered in the final ends. The British squad had entered the weekend already guaranteed at least a silver, having edged the previously unbeaten Swiss team 8-5 in Thursday’s semi-final. That semi-final victory hinged on a pivotal seventh-end shot from skip Bruce Mouat—a complex run-back triple takeout—that flipped momentum and helped Britain lead 6-5 going into the 10th.

Britain had only just reached the knockout stage; their route through the round robin included five wins and four defeats, and their progress depended in part on another group result when Italy lost to Switzerland. The Swiss had completed the round-robin unbeaten. Names prominent across the tournament included Mouat and teammate Hammy McMillan on the British side, Swiss skip Yannick Schwaller and their coach Glenn Howard, and Canada’s skip Brad Jacob, who led the Canadian challenge.

Context and escalation

The British run to the final was described by players as an emotional rollercoaster. They scraped through the group phase and then produced a tense semi-final performance in front of an enthusiastic crowd that included vocal Scottish supporters. Mouat’s seventh-end shot was widely held up as the turning point in that match; it denied the Swiss a big score and allowed Britain to build the narrow lead they carried into the closing end.

The final itself tilted the other way late on. Britain had been aiming to become the first British men’s curling team to win Olympic gold since 1924, but errors in the concluding ends handed Canada the advantage and ultimately the title. The tournament has also been shadowed by wider controversy: claims of double-touching on released stones involving multiple teams prompted World Curling to increase levels of umpiring during the Games.

Immediate impact

The immediate consequence is the end of Britain’s bid for a long-awaited men’s gold; the team leaves with silver, extending a streak of podium finishes but falling short of historic gold. The semi-final win over Switzerland did, however, guarantee a medal and showcased Mouat’s shotmaking under pressure—a reminder of the fine margins that separate victory and defeat in Olympic curling.

Beyond the ice for the men’s event, the Games timetable remains active: the women’s halfpipe final has been postponed and rescheduled for Sunday at 09: 40 GMT, where Britain’s Zoe Atkin goes into the final with a strong chance of medalling. There are five gold medals scheduled to be contested on the final day of competition, and other events continued to produce notable results, including Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo winning his sixth gold and Britain’s Andrew Musgrave finishing sixth in the 50km cross-country event.

Forward outlook

What makes this notable is how a single shot at a key moment can alter an entire tournament narrative: Mouat’s semi-final brilliance delivered a place in the final, but late-match execution in the gold-medal game determined the ultimate outcome. For anyone inspired to try curling, the semi-final and final offered a concentrated lesson in strategy, precision and the pressure of final ends.

Upcoming confirmed milestones include the rescheduled women’s halfpipe final on Sunday at 09: 40 GMT and the remaining five gold-medal contests on the Games’ final day. The British curling squad have signalled that their campaign and personnel remain capable and motivated for future championships, even as they absorb the immediate disappointment of missing out on Olympic gold.