Curling: Canada deny Team GB in agonising 9-6 Olympic final
Bruce Mouat's rink fell short in the men's curling final, losing 9-6 to Canada in Cortina and leaving Great Britain with silver as the long wait for a men's Olympic gold continues. The defeat extends the Scottish quartet's run of second-place finishes after Beijing and leaves several questions about the team's immediate future.
Curling final in Cortina: scoreline and sweep of the tournament facts
Canada beat Team GB 9-6 in the gold-medal match in Cortina; the result denied Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Hammy McMillan and Bobby Lammie — plus alternate Kyle Waddell — an Olympic men's gold and extended a wait of more than a century, described in coverage as a 102-year drought for a British men's Olympic curling title. The British quartet arrived in Cortina as world champions and favourites but will leave as silver medallists for the second successive Olympics after their defeat in Beijing four years ago, when they lost the final to Sweden.
How the ends unfolded: key shots from Mouat and the decisive ninth end
Canada had finished the round-robin ahead of Team GB and therefore had the hammer for the first end; GB limited them to one in that opening end and then scored two in the second to lead. Canada went 3-2 up after the third end and the match was 4-3 in Canada’s favour at the halfway mark after Brad Jacobs failed to blank the fifth end to retain the hammer. Mouat produced a double takeout in the sixth to move GB 5-4 ahead, and Canada levelled at 5-5 after seven.
The eighth end proved crucial as GB missed shots and only took a single point, leaving Britain 6-5 going into the penultimate end with Canada holding the hammer. Canada, with a four on offer, took three in the ninth to lead 8-6. Britain had the hammer in the 10th; Mouat’s second-to-last throw spun in and knocked away two Canadian stones, but Canada answered to secure the 9-6 victory on the final stone of the 10th end.
Team honours, records and conflicting tallies in coverage
The rink have been presented throughout the tournament as two-time World Champions and multiple-time European title-holders. Accounts describe two World Championship wins and two European championships. Coverage diverges on their Grand Slam record: one account credited them with a record 12 Grand Slam titles since the last Games, while another listed four Grand Slam event wins over the same period. In head-to-head context, Mouat and Brad Jacobs have met 14 times and this final was only the second victory for Jacobs' side in that run.
Semi-final drama, near early exit and the tournament arc over 11 days
The past 10–11 days in Italy had not been straightforward for Mouat’s rink. They were on the brink of a shock early exit as recently as Thursday but recovered, notably with an epic semi-final win over Switzerland on Thursday — a match Mouat referred to as "our gold medal" — to guarantee a place on the podium. Still, this tournament repeated the heartbreak of four years ago and cost Britain what would have been the nation’s fourth gold of these Games.
Reactions in the arena: emotions, future plans and the crowd in Cortina Ice Arena
After the final, Mouat was visibly emotional and said he was in shock and felt his team had been the better side. Grant Hardie said, "I'm heartbroken, " and recalled the pain of the final loss four years earlier; Hammy McMillan echoed that sentiment, saying it had taken him four years to get over the first silver. Two of the British players were left in tears after the match. Mouat confirmed he plans to continue to the next Olympics in France, saying "100%" and that he loves the sport, though he was unsure whether Bobby Lammie and the other teammates would all join him and said they had not yet had that conversation as a group.
The atmosphere in the Cortina Ice Arena was intense: crowds were described as breathless, with bands of travelling Scottish fans conspicuous and moments of chanting and even a relative playing "Loch Lomond" on the bagpipes from the stadium eyrie. The Canadian side, led by 2014 gold-medallist Brad Jacobs, have themselves endured a tumultuous tournament amid cheating claims, but they came through to take the gold on the sport's final stone in Cortina.
