Winter Olympics 2026: GB curlers denied gold but bring spotlight to their sport

But what powers all these sporting talents is the combination of their personalities. There are two important things that form the basis of the team: complete honesty and trust.

As McMillan puts it, “If one of us is wrong, the rest of us can say it too”; the more measured Mouat describes it as “knowing different things to say to get the best out of each other.”

Individually they are all very different.

Hype man McMillan is lively enough for all four; Hardie is a man of logic, an engineer by profession; Mouat is thoughtful, thoughtful and calm; Lammie is a quiet and reliable presence; and Waddell, the veteran leader in the background.

It might be labeled ‘Team Mouat’, in keeping with the tradition of naming a track after its jump, but it’s more of a collective. In fact, Mouat is eager to share the spotlight.

“Bruce is very different to a lot of jumpers,” explains BBC Sport pundit and 2022 gold medalist Vicky Wright. “Many of them are clearly leaders, but the GB team works so well because they work on a level playing field.

“The dynamic they have works because they all bring a different side to the table and they all respect that. That’s a big part of why they’re so successful.”

It is instructive to see how comfortable they are with each other and in the position they find themselves in.

Whether chatting on the street or in restaurants, meeting friends and relatives, stopping to watch other British athletes race, all five have been at it in Cortina over the past few weeks.

Or – in Mouat’s case – going pillowcase shopping and “spending too much money” on the morning of the semi-final.

Even in the moments before the final, McMillan and Hardie were laughing with a journalist; Mouat was picking out familiar faces in the crowd for a smile and wave, and Lammie and Waddell were casually watching the Canadians warm up.

This is their stage; But how long will it last?