Gb Curling Team lose 9-6 to Canada after dramatic semi win over Switzerland
The gb curling team fell 9-6 to Canada in the Olympic men's final after a tense tournament that included an 8-5 semi-final victory over Switzerland. The result denied Britain a first Olympic men's curling gold since 1924 and leaves other British medal hopes — including Zoe Atkin in the women's halfpipe — to conclude the Games.
Gb Curling Team final sealed by Canada’s last stones
Canada clinched the final with the last two stones, turning the match in the closing ends and handing Great Britain a 9-6 defeat. The British side had gone into the match aiming to secure the nation's first Olympic men's curling gold since 1924 but instead left the ice contemplating another near miss.
Bruce Mouat’s run back triple takeout changed semi-final momentum
Earlier in the week Bruce Mouat produced a pivotal “run back triple takeout” in the seventh end of the semi-final, a shot he judged among the best of his career. That play deprived Switzerland of an expected three points, left the visitors scrambling to draw for one, and directly led to Britain scoring two in the following end. The sequence turned the contest and helped Britain to an 8-5 victory that guaranteed at least a silver medal.
Route to the knockout: five wins, four defeats and an Italian result
Britain’s path to the semis was narrow. The team reached the knockout rounds only after Italy lost its final round-robin game to Switzerland, a result that left Great Britain through despite a 5-4 round-robin record. The Swiss had entered the knockouts unbeaten at 9-0. The British recovery across the weekend—coming from uncertainty at nine o'clock on Thursday morning to a confirmed final place by nine o'clock that night—was described by Hammy McMillan as an emotional rollercoaster.
Team composition, experience and backing
The Olympic roster featured Bruce Mouat as skip, Hammy McMillan Jr as lead, Bobby Lammie as second, and Grant Hardie as third and vice-skip, with Kyle Waddell named alternate and returning to the Games for the first time in eight years. The first four had been part of the Beijing 2022 squad that won silver, a history Ross Whyte — a member of that 2022 silver-winning team — praised, saying the current side had been doing “amazingly” and urging them to play as they normally do.
Rivalries, coaching and officiating tension
Mouat’s semi against Yannick Schwaller continued a long-standing rivalry: Schwaller and Mouat first met in world junior competition a decade ago, with Mouat holding a 22-10 lead in their head-to-head record going into the semi and the British winning the world championship final against Switzerland 5-4 last April. Switzerland had added Glenn Howard, a four-time world champion, as national coach and arrived at the Olympics unbeaten in the round robin.
Off the ice, the British side — and opponents including Canada — have been caught up in wider controversy. Allegations of stones being “double-touched” after release have surrounded the Canadian men's and women's teams and also implicated Mouat’s squad, a dispute that began after a heated Sweden–Canada match and led World Curling officials to increase the level of umpiring.
Broader British medal picture and final-day schedule
With the men's final concluded, attention turns to other medal opportunities. Zoe Atkin goes into the women's halfpipe final at the top of the leaderboard; that final was postponed and rescheduled for Sunday at 09: 40 GMT, meaning her chance to add to Britain’s haul will be decided then. Britain had already enjoyed a strong fortnight in Milan and Cortina: the Games yielded “Super Sunday” golds for Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale in mixed team snowboard cross and later golds for Matt Weston and Tabby Stoecker in skeleton. The current best-ever British medal tally at a Winter Olympics stands at five, with only one gold previously won.
Other moments from the closing days include Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo winning his sixth gold of the Games in the 50km cross-country event while Britain’s Andrew Musgrave finished sixth. The men’s ice hockey bronze medal conclusion between Slovakia and Finland remains to be completed, and broadcasters have been carrying live updates through the final sessions. Vicky Wright, an Olympic gold medallist curler, has been part of the on-air commentary team during the coverage.
What makes this notable is the contrast between Mouat’s single-shot brilliance that propelled Britain into the final and the ultimate fragility of the win-or-lose closing ends in the final itself; execution at the very end determined whether the team returned home with gold or silver. The timing matters because the postponed halfpipe and the final day’s events will decide whether Britain can extend a record-breaking medal streak before the Games close.
