Team GB heartbreak as Winter Olympic curling gold slips away in devastating echo of Beijing 2022 as Bruce Mouat and Co fall to cunning Canadians

There’s no cheating, no arguing, and no need for a referee to oversee the hog line. For Bruce Mouat and his collection of sweepers, these will have to serve as silver linings following their defeat by Canada’s ill-fated blinders in Saturday night’s Olympic final.

If there was any doubt that there were double touches or sly nudges on granite of the sort that sent Sweden into a rage a week ago, then they were not aired within the cold confines of this arena in Cortina. The best team definitely won.

And this is where it comes in a sobering blow for Mouat and his pals Bobby Lammie, Grant Hardie and Hammy McMillan. As in the 2022 Beijing final, the top team was led by Brad Jacobs and others, including Marc Kennedy, who was at the center of the row with the Swedes.

They, along with Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, deserved their victory, securing a 9-6 finish in a handful of highs and lows and exciting matches; None of these were bigger than the decisive moment in the penultimate ending.

Entering the ninth episode, Mouat was ahead 6-5 and was aware that they would have the last shot advantage in the final. In this curious world, this is not a match point but a golden opportunity.

But then the time came. Don’t even curl up. Because this contest has strayed pretty wildly; Jacobs hit a triple in the ninth and the scores were tied at 8-6, with Mouat’s team’s greatest achievement soon denied. They have been world champions twice in the last three years and two Olympic silver medalists four times apart; This is also annoying.

The Canadians were much maligned over allegations of cheating early in the Games, but there was no doubting their brilliance on Saturday night.

Hardie spoke on behalf of the band and later said: ‘So much for the pain from four years ago, we thought we’d go and have another go. We gave ourselves this chance. ‘We did a lot of good work to try to save ourselves, but unfortunately we still couldn’t get there.’

Mouat recently joked that he didn’t have tear ducts and offered an explanation for why he rarely cries, but here he looked quietly distraught. We can assume that a similar reaction spread on the ice rinks in Sweden, where the accusations against Kennedy were most heated.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of this saga, the Canadian foursome have proven to be incredibly resilient, even though there is little hard evidence in either case. At every press conference over the past seven days, they’ve referenced one of the most surreal cheating controversies of our time, but they’ve still risen above the noise.

There was less for Mouat, but his progress to this point hasn’t been easy after disasters in two lap stages. Come to think of it, just two days ago they were counting on Switzerland beating Italy to even reach the knockout.

But as these curlers never tire of explaining, the line between these phases of a competition is stark. If you’re inside, you’re inside and everything that went before is forgotten.

Making the most of this second life, Mouat’s track burst out of the gate. Or moving as fast as possible in curling, which meant they were up 2-1 shortly after six bagpipers took them onto the ice, and they did it with a double in the second end.

This was promising. However, the Canadians recovered from their losing position by beating Mouat in the round-robin, where they quickly regained their footing.

A double in the next end swung the pendulum in Jacobs’ direction, then an exchange of singles brought up the sixth; The score was 4-3 Canada and Mouat had the hammer. Cue one of those bursts of excitement in this sport that can feel like a reward for the spectator’s patience.

The Canadians got off to a good start on their final piece, with one of the yellows on the right of home and the other on the left in scoring position. In short, we are faced with a lead of two and, even worse, the loss of a single.

But Mouat, one of the Olympics’ quieter, less imposing giants, had other ideas; He looked at his last shot from the yellow rock on the left, taking it out of play, and after the rebound, the red changed course and took the other one out as well. Do his stunt double.

The feeling of missing out on a better team four years ago is very familiar to the team

The team looked emotional as they collected their silver medals on Saturday evening

Canadiens were perfect in the ninth end as they reached the inevitable conclusion

It was on the rise for a few minutes. It was nearby. Heading into the ninth end, Canada’s hammer held a 6-5 lead and as long as only one shot was conceded, they would hold hands in the final. If you accept two of them, they will feel good. But three? This feels like a 44-pound piece of granite falling on your foot. The Canadians entered the final leading three and 8-6.

Needing a double to tie, Mouat lost the single instead. As he watched the Canadians embrace in celebration, he had the look of a man who had witnessed such scenes twice for convenience.

Silver for Team GB’s wider contingent in Italy took them to the lower end of the medal target. A fifth could come on the final day after Zoe Atkin’s halfpipe match with Eileen Gu was postponed Saturday evening due to heavy snow. Atkin qualified for the final in first place, so it remains possible for England to achieve an uplifting finish.