Bruce Mouat and Team GB Denied Olympic Gold Again as Canada Prevails 9-6 in Cortina
bruce mouat's rink arrived in Cortina as world champions and favourites but were unable to end a 102-year wait for a men's Winter Olympic curling gold, losing 9-6 to Canada in the gold medal match and leaving Team GB with a second successive Olympic silver.
Bruce Mouat: expectations, the rink and the emotional fallout
Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Hammy McMillan and Bobby Lammie — plus alternate Kyle Waddell — came to Cortina believing this was their time. They had arrived as world champions and favourites, and their record since the last Games included two World Championships, a couple of European crowns and a record 12 Grand Slam titles. Yet they will leave as silver medallists for the second successive Olympics, an outcome that left Mouat tear-choked and in visible shock. Grant Hardie described the team's motivation as driven by the pain of the defeat four years earlier and a desire to win for each other.
Match turning points: how the gold medal match unfolded
Canada finished the round-robin ahead of Team GB and therefore held the hammer for the first end, but Great Britain limited them to one there and then took two in the second to move ahead. Canada overhauled GB in the third to lead 3-2, and Britain clawed a point back to level after four ends.
At the halfway mark Canada had had the hammer three times but led only 4-3 after the fifth end following a missed chance from Brad Jacobs, the 2014 gold-medallist, who failed to blank that end to retain the hammer. Mouat produced a double takeout in the sixth to pick up two and put GB 5-4 up. Canada levelled after seven to make it 5-5.
The eighth end proved crucial: GB managed just one, and that slender result gave Canada an opening. In the ninth the Canadians capitalised on slack stones to take three and move 8-6 into the final end. Mouat had the hammer in the 10th and produced a strong shot with his second-to-last throw that removed two Canadian stones, but Canada responded to reclaim control and close out a 9-6 victory.
Earlier reverses and the road to the final
The final represented the second time Canada had beaten the GB rink in five days. Earlier in the tournament, Jacobs' time-served Canadian team had won the round-robin meeting, a rare reverse for the Scottish quartet. In that round-robin contest GB had led after six ends before slipping to a 9-5 defeat that left them relying on favourable results elsewhere to progress. The past 10 days in Italy were not straightforward for the British side; they were on the brink of a shock early exit as recently as Thursday but recovered to guarantee a medal.
Semi-final high and the unmet expectation of Olympic gold
After an epic semi-final win over Switzerland on Thursday, Mouat had spoken about the match in terms that suggested the team believed it was their gold. That belief was rooted in a dominant run since the last Games: multiple world and European titles and an impressive haul of Grand Slam wins. Nevertheless, the Olympic prize remained elusive. The defeat in Cortina means Team GB missed the chance to end a 102-year wait for a men's Olympic curling title and also denied Britain a fourth gold medal at these Games.
Canada, controversy and context in Cortina
Canada's team have themselves faced a tumultuous time in Cortina amid cheating claims, yet on the ice they produced the crucial shots when it mattered. Their ability to seize the ninth end and respond in the final end decided the gold medal match and handed them the win over Great Britain.
What happens next for the British rink?
bruce mouat and his team leave with silver and a mix of pride in their sustained success and frustration at falling short of Olympic gold. Unclear in the provided context is any detail about immediate plans, selections, or reactions beyond the emotional responses recorded after the match.
