BRITISH CURLING WOMEN CRUISE TO GOLD TO END TEAM GB’S OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN IN STYLE

Eve Muirhead, Vicky Wright, Jen Dodds, Hailey Duff and their alternate Mili Smith became Olympic champions in Beijing’s Ice Cube after a one-sided final which they dominated from the outset in defeating Japan 10-3.

As their compatriots had done two decades previously, the British women’s representatives kept millions at home out of their beds into the wee, small hours of the morning as they powered to victory in a match that was over as a contest long before the concession of the match was made with an end to spare.

While the match itself lacked the drama of their epic semi-final defeat of previous champions Sweden, emotions inevitably ran high as they hugged one another in celebration, before there were tears on the podium from skip Muirhead as the realisation of what they had achieved hit home when the Union Flag was raised for the first time at this Winter Olympic Games.

“It was emotional for sure,” she said.

“I managed to hold it in until the flag was getting raised there, but it’s a moment I’ve been waiting for for so many years. 

“I’ve been close, but just haven’t been able to get over the line, but the girls have helped me become a better curler and they have also helped me become a better person

“Without them I wouldn’t be here and it’s such an incredible, incredible moment.

“It’s been an Olympic Games that’s not been easy. We came here knowing that every game was going to be tough and we showed our resilience in the semi-final where we showed how much fight we have and today we played an amazing game.

“We definitely kept the best to last and I’m so proud of the girls in how we played today, because if you can bring you’re a game in an Olympic final, that just shows what fantastic abilities we all have.”

The contrast between the clinical accuracy of the British quartet and the waywardness of their Japanese opponents made for a final that was unexpectedly one-sided after all that had preceded it, as Muirhead gained revenge in full over the women who had denied her a medal in the playoff for bronze in PyeongChang in 2018.

She gave her team the upper hand at the opening end with a skip’s double as, with only two Japanese stones in the house as she played her first shot, she froze onto the one lying closest to the button at the back of the four foot then, after opposite number Satsuki Fujisawa played an angled freeze on top of that, delicately nudged them with her last to edge both Japanese stones further away and leave her own two scoring.

The Japanese skip then looked to have a chance to blank the second end after Muirhead’s hit and roll with her final stone finished very close to the British stone that was already lying close to the button, but she removed just one and had to settle for being forced to a single.

A near text-book start for the team with the hammer was then continued when, largely thanks to a fine double takeout by vice skip Wright, Team GB managed to blank the third end, so that they were ahead with the hammer at an even end, strengthening their grip on the match.

They had to settle for just one at the fourth when, in a congested head, Muirhead came close to drawing around a Japanese stone on the four foot with her final stone in a bid to add to the one she already had locked in on the button, but a 3-1 lead after four ends was an encouraging position which became even more so when, after the British skip piled on the pressure with her final stone at the fifth, Fujisawa was off target with her hit and roll attempt, allowing a steal.

A 4-1 lead at the midway break represented a powerful position to be in and after Muirhead’s slightly wide attempt at a draw at the next left Fujisawa with a relatively straightforward chance to play off it to register a two at the sixth, she was unable to take advantage, scoring just one and leaving the momentum with the British quartet.

The contest then effectively ended at the seventh when another miscue by the Japanese skip left her British counterpart with the chance for a promotion takeout to score four and Muirhead duly delivered the coup de grace, putting her team 8-2 ahead, her vice skip describing the match clinching strike as “perfect.”

“We discussed the ice when we were up the other end and knew what it was going to do and as soon as she let go of it I knew it was made from hand. I was so confident watching it coming down that she had absolutely smashed it,” Wright continued.

From there it was a tidy up operation to ensure nothing drastic happened and they remained clinical to the end, forcing Japan to a one at the eighth end before Muirhead rounded things off with a draw for a two at the ninth which took them into double figures, bringing the inevitable concession from their sporting opponents. 

It was a remarkable victory for the four-time Olympian and her teammates who were all making their Games debuts, not least because they saved their easiest win of a ferociously tough tournament for the most important match as they continued an extraordinary run of having won every event they have played since being formally put together as a team after coming through an innovative nine-player squad system this season.

That was put in place because of the British women’s struggles at last year’s World Championships and Muirhead admitted on becoming European champion for the third time in November that she had suffered fears that her days of standing on top of podiums had been over, but she is now hoping she has laid any demons to rest once and for all.

“Coming fourth at the Olympics in PyeongChang was incredibly tough,” she said.

“It took me a long time to get over that and even now sometimes think of that shot I had to win the bronze medal. Hopefully it will be out of my mind now.

“It’s a horrible place to finish, but I came back because I knew I was capable of getting another medal and I did it with these girls and I wouldn’t have done it without them.

“It was also a very tough summer last year, though, having dealt with the pandemic, with lockdown with not qualifying for the Olympics at the World Championships last season, but I had such great help from all the support staff and the girls around me, to come back fighting and that’s exactly what we did.

“When we were in the squad of nine there were no places guaranteed in the team and we all fought as hard as we could to get that spot within that five and we deserved that spot. We’ve proven that because we’re European champions and now we’re Olympic champions.”   

In becoming the first British skip to lead a team to Olympic gold since Rhona Martin’s triumph in Salt Lake City 20 years ago, Muirhead made an additional piece of history of her own by becoming the first British curler to win two Olympic medals having won a bronze medal in Sochi in 2014.

Dodds meanwhile joined a very select band of curlers who have been able to call themselves Olympic and World champions at the same time, following last May’s success with Bruce Mouat in the World Mixed Doubles Championships and her skip paid tribute to the character she has shown.

“This was Jen’s 22^nd game at these Olympics and she would have been disappointed at the Mixed Doubles, but this just shows her strength to come away from that to now having this medal,” said Muirhead.

“She is an incredible curler. I’ve loved every moment playing with her. She’s such a great team player in every single way.” 

Wright joked that she now has the bragging rights at home with fiancée Greg Drummond, the coach of the Mixed Doubles team who won a silver medal at the 2014 Games in Sochi, but Muirhead pointed out that her vice skip had needed to be persuaded of her own capabilities.

“When Vicky first started curling with us she was playing lead and when there was a change made and she was put to third she didn’t want to do it,” she explained.

“It took a lot of persuasion and a lot of encouragement to show her she was one of the best thirds in the world and now look at her standing on the podium with an Olympic gold medal round her neck.

“She’s the mother within the team and she is a nurse and we have to take our hats off to her for what she has done during COVID when she was working in the hospital several days a week. She just cares so much about everyone and would give her right arm to help someone.”

Those three had played together for the last few years, but Muirhead also lavished praise on newcomers Hailey Duff, their lead and Mili Smith, who earned her gold medal as their alternate.

“Hailey came from not even being in the Podium squad of British Curling and here she is winning the Olympic Games,” said the skip.

“She’s a phenomenal curler and through the years I can see her back here on the podium the same as all these girls, because I think the talent is just second to none.

“And Mili has been such a great asset to us. You’ll know the name Smith in the curling world. Her brothers Kyle and Cammy were at the Olympic Games back in PyeongChang along with my brothers and the talent she has is also phenomenal.

“People don’t see it, but the work Mili puts in behind the scenes is something that if it didn’t happen we wouldn’t be here.

“So we’re a very strong team and when we come together, we have shown we are capable of very great things.”