Sochi 2014: Team GB women win curling bronze after last-stone drama | Sport | The Guardian Sochi 2014: Team GB women win curling bronze after last-stone drama • Eve Muirhead's team beat Switzerland 6-5 in 10th end • Great Britain certain of best medal haul since 1924 Great Britain's Claire Hamilton, Vicki Adams, Eve Muirhead and Anna Sloan celebrate winning bronze against Switzerland. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA Thursday 20 February 2014 06.33 EST First published on Thursday 20 February 2014 06.33 EST Close This article is 2 years old Eve Muirhead threw the stone that secured a curling bronze medal, ensuring that Britain will equal their best medal haul at a Winter Games, then hailed the play-off victory over Switzerland as "really special". Twenty-four hours after the heartache of losing the opportunity to win gold, Muirhead said the stone that guaranteed Britain would finish with at least four medals would stay with her forever.

The skip, Muirhead, and the coach, Rhona Howie, who won gold in Salt Lake City 12 years ago, paid tribute to the way the rink had regrouped after losing to Canada in the semi-finals . "The Olympic medal is the one we've been missing and to win it with three or four of my best friends is really special," said Muirhead, who like her team-mates had looked crushed after losing to Canada on Wednesday. With Lizzy Yarnold's gold in the skeleton , a bronze for Jenny Jones in the snowboard slopestyle, a bronze for Muirhead's women curlers and at least a silver for David Murdoch's men in Friday's final, Team GB have surpassed the three medals won in 1936 and equalled the best haul of four at the first Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924. "I'm glad I didn't know that before I played it," said Muirhead, who was in tears at the end of the match. "All of Team GB are really a great bunch of guys.

To hear it has made Team GB the most successful Olympics ever for us, it makes that stone probably stay with me for ever." That total could be bettered if Elise Christie recovers from the heartache of double disqualification to win the 1,000m short track speed skating on Friday or the men's four-man bobsleigh win a medal. Like Murdoch, whose rink play Canada for Olympic gold, Muirhead said that they had been inspired by Britain's summer Olympians. The rower Katherine Grainger – who understands the slings and arrows of Olympic sport as well as anyone – had emailed them on the morning of their bronze medal match to urge them on. Howie said the world champions had been "devastated" to lose to Canada – who Jennifer Jones, wearing gold eyeshadow, led to a 6-3 victory in the gold medal match, making them the first women's team to go through an Olympics unbeaten – but that defeat had made them doubly determined to salvage a bronze. "I am really proud of the girls, they came out and worked so hard. Yesterday was a devastating blow to them," she said.

"They showed true character, played a great game, turned the hammer around and really fought hard. It's a well-deserved medal." Against an experienced Swiss skip, Muirhead made all the right calls. She went into the final end with the hammer knowing that a single would be enough to win and nervelessly delivered. Vice captain Anna Sloan's contribution was vital, particularly in an eighth end that yielded two points for Great Britain and set them up to win. "I never had any doubt when Eve was over that last stone," Sloan said. "There was no way we were leaving here without a medal. We wanted the gold but it shows the spirit of our team to pick ourselves up and a bronze medal feels amazing right now." The British women were under intense pressure to deliver all week and the tears were as much of relief as of joy. An "exhausted but buzzing" Muirhead said it had been "a constant rollercoaster". "Maybe I come across as a bit stern faced, quite focused. I am. Inside, though, maybe I'm not as hard as everyone likes to think I am," said the 23-year-old, who is the only member of her team to have been to a Games before.

"It's tough out there – mentally and physically – but as a team what a fantastic show we put on today." Lord Coe, who watched alongside summer medallists including Sir Steve Redgrave and David Hemery , said Muirhead and her rink would inspire others. "The whole team's fantastic and I just hope that given this is half term, a lot of kids are watching the way they have handled themselves," said Coe, the British Olympic Association chairman. "The pressure is not just about the campaign here, it's about the weeks and months of buildup, and the level of expectation there has always been around our curling teams." Curling is unusual in that it is funded equally by the Scottish Institute of Sport and UK Sport, with both men's and women's teams representing Scotland most of the time but switching to Team GB tracksuits at the Games. Muirhead answered the inevitable question about Scottish independence with the same ice-cool aplomb with which she curls. "Whenever you've got the chance to represent Great Britain and you've got Great Britain on your back, you're super proud. You're equally as proud when you've got Scotland on your back," she said.

"Nine times out of 10, we're representing Scotland at European and world championships but at the Olympic Games it's Great Britain. Each one, we're as proud." David Cameron and the Scottish first minister, Alex Salmond, were equally as quick to Tweet messages of congratulation, along with Sir Chris Hoy and a host of other Olympians. The men's team will hope to be on the receiving end of similar messages on Friday, though they will have to overcome the favourites, Canada, who beat Murdoch's rink 7-5 in the group stages. They go into the match having proven their form, first in the tiebreaker against Norway and then again in the semi-finals against Sweden.

Rush of medals for host nation helps buoy mood on shores of Black Sea after most expensive Games in history Published: 23 Feb 2014 Skipper David Murdoch on how their coach, Soren Gran, reignited his love of curling after the dark days of the last Winter Olympics Published: 20 Feb 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics 2014: Team GB Women's Curling Team Win Bronze Medal | The Huffington Post Sochi Winter Olympics 2014: Team GB Women's Curling Team Win Bronze Medal 20/02/2014 11:10 | Updated 20 February 2014 The Huffington Post UK Getty Team GB's women's curling team have claimed bronze at the Sochi Winter Olympics following a 6-5 win over Switzerland. Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics: Team GB Men's Curling Team Reach Final Skip Eve Muirhead soaked up the pressure and landed her final stone on the bottom of the target to clinch victory.

Muirhead's all-Scottish rink shrugged off the disappointment of their semi-final defeat to Canada on Wednesday to secure the medal that at least equals GB's best-ever Winter Olympic medal haul of 1924 - four - with a gold or silver to come from the men's curling final against Canada on Friday. It was the first Olympic medal for British women curlers since their coach Rhona Howie - then Rhona Martin - skipped GB to gold at Salt Lake City in 2002 and they had to come from behind to do it, not forging ahead until the eighth end. Muirhead's team took some time to get into their stride at the Ice Cube Curling Center. After a blanked first end, Mirjam Ott's team took a two in the second to put GB on the back foot. A double take-out in the third end by Switzerland ultimately led to Muirhead having to take just one point before passing the hammer - the last shot of each end which is normally decisive - over to Ott.

Team GB women's curling 39 Curling - Winter Olympics Day 13 SOCHI, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 20: (L-R) Eve Muirhead and Vicki Adams of Great Britain celebrate as they win the bronze medal during the Bronze medal match between Switzerland and Great Britain on day 13 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Ice Cube Curling Center on February 20, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) Share this slide: Getty Images Another great double take-out, this time from Muirhead with her first shot in the fifth end, allowed GB to go into the interval level at 3-3. Switzerland edged ahead again 4-3 and Muirhead blanked the seventh to get another chance with hammer to go for two points to get in front for the first time in the game which they did, but only after a measurement was used to confirm one of the British stones was indeed closer to the centre than the nearest one from Switzerland.

GB went into the 10th end level but importantly with hammer which, in the end, provided Muirhead the opportunity to roll up the final stone with some ease to claim the historic victory. Curling: Great Britain v Switzerland, women's bronze-medal match - Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics: live - Telegraph FT Great Britain 6 Switzerland 5 GREAT BRITAIN CLAIM BRONZE MEDAL WITH 6-5 VICTORY OVER SWITZERLAND 11.23 GB men's curlers go up against Canada tomorrow at 13.30 GMT and you'll be able to follow it live right here. Thanks for joining us today. Now go on the boys. 11.20 Muirhead: "The one medal we were missing as a team was the Olympic one and I'm so happy we've now got it. We're definitely going to enjoy the next couple of days and cheer on the men tomorrow." 11.16 Great Britain have equalled their best ever medal haul at a Winter Olympics with bronze today and silver at least guaranteed for the boys tomorrow.

Muirhead and her team, meanwhile, with an average age of 23, become the youngest rink to win an Olympic curling medal. 11.10 GREAT BRITAIN CLAIM BRONZE MEDAL WITH 6-5 VICTORY OVER SWITZERLAND &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Jessica Ennis-Hill - Congratulations to &amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt;@evemuirhead&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; and the team &amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt;@Team_Muirhead&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; Olympic bronze! Fantastic! Enjoy celebrating! &amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt;#Sochi2014&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; 11.09 Muirhead delivers the final stone, it creeps into the house and lands perfectly inside the button for the all-important point. The BRONZE is theirs. END 10: Great Britain 6 Switzerland 5 11.08 Ott delivers her final stone of the match.

It's straight down the line and starts to curl inwards to land just close to the red rock in the white circle. If GB can draw a stone into the middle, the bronze is all theirs. How are your nerves? 11.06 Ott skates away shating her head and looking mighty anxious as the yellow stone falls inside the red circle at the bottom of the house (in exact same spot as bottom yellow rock in image below). Muirhead comes skating down to have a little discussion with Sloan, here goes the penultimate one. It creeps into the house and stops just a foot above the yellow stone. 11.03 GB's Sloan clears the inside of the house with one red rock still clipping the red circle. What can Ott do here? 11.01 Three each to play and the tension is building, GB only need one to sneak it. 10.56 END 10: The crucial, crucial final end and importantly GB have the hammer. Switzerland playing it safe by putting up a guard, one, though, is overcooked and moves into the house. 10.54 Ott looking very anxious as the sweepers work overtime, bringing the stone round and into the button.

They've taken a crucial one and the match is tied with one end to play. This is why curling is great! END NINE: Great Britain 5 Switzerland 5 10.53 Ott goes for the draw, just moving one of the reds a couple of feet away but still within the house. Muirhead makes her final delivery this end. Here it comes, it's coming round and a slight kiss of the yellow stone and GB are on top of this end, and this match now. The yellow stone is surrounded by four reds. 10.50 Muirhead's turn now and see goes bang in the middle of the two yellows round the button in the blue circle and it pays off, taking out the double and leaving GB with three rocks in the house. I stress, though, Switzerland have the hammer here. 10.49 We're back in play with three each to go. The call GB made, kiss the yellow and the red settles nicely in the blue circle at the top of the button. Phew. They made the right call. A good response from Switzerland sees them dislodge the last rock, but GB are still closer to the centre.

10.46 Switzerland's fourth stone hits the red bang on but dislodges a yellow out of the house and leaves GB still with a shot at a one. Sloan turns to her team-mates and then opts for an early time-out. Here comes the big man. Coach David Hay strides out onto the ice, hands straight into his pockets, 'well girls what do we have here....' (or something along those lines). 10.43 END NINE: Switzerland have the hammer this end and deliver a great stone into the bullseye. GB's Adams replies by delivering the next alongside the yellow and on the inside rim of the blue circle before commending her team-mates for 'looking after' the rock. 10.36 Ott gives her stone plenty of power, it wipes away the red closest to the centre but it can't kiss another stone and that's another missed opportunity. It was a tough shot to make, trying to take out the other red without clearing her own yellow, but it's still another error from the Swiss veteran. Muirhead delivers a final stone to perfection and that's the two for GB. But wait, they need to measure the second to make sure it's closer.

It has to be. The measuring tool is out and it's confirmed. GB have the lead for the first time. END EIGHT: Great Britain 5 Switzerland 4 10.32 Swiss skip Ott goes for the draw and places her stone in the blue circle just on the right-hand side lying nearly under the red rock. Muirhead hits the red inside the house which clears the yellow and leaves GB with real shot of a two here. 10.30 Errors starting to creep in to both sides now as Sloan doesn't execute her next stone with two each to play (GB remember with the hammer). Ott and her Swiss team take a timeout to consider their options. This is how we're looking... 10.26 Switzerland wipe out the red rock leaving Swiss with two in the house as GB respond with a 'corner freeze' and place their next rock just above the yellow stone in the white circle. In double quick time, the Swiss take their next stone which caught everyone off guard and it goes flashing past the house without even giving a stone a brief kiss or anything. The crowd let out a 'oooohhh' so it must've been bad.

10.21 END EIGHT: State of play at the halfway stage of this end. GB have set up the guard and with their fourth stone deliver it right above the yellow on the line. 10.15 The Swiss take out the red and now GB have the call to make, do they clear the house and take the hammer into the eighth end? Muirhead doesn't make the same mistake Ott did in the last end, she clears the yellow and the red goes sliding out the circle too. END SEVEN: Great Britain 3 Switzerland 4 10.13 Ott steps up, clears the guard and Muirhead curls her first effort past the guard and places it in the red circle, the GB quartet look happy enough with that. 10.10 Oh dear. Sloan bangs her broom against the ice as she misses the yellow in the house and the Swiss reply by clearing the house completely. Sloan puts the guard back up on her next delivery but this end might just be cleared now to give them another chance in the next.

10.07 END SEVEN: An in-turn takeout on the red stone leaves the Swiss with two in the house and a strong stone from Adams clears the two yellows and leaving a sole red. This could pan out the same way as the previous end now, with no guard set up, the Swiss might want to force GB to take a one. 10.02 Here we are then, decision time. The last stone goes down the sheet, takes out the red but the yellow is left in the house for a point. 'Ooooh' says Steve Cram, 'they didn't want that'. Frowns all round from the Swiss ladies as the Brits now have the hammer. END SIX: Great Britain 3 Switzerland 4 10.00 Still cagey play as Muirhead takes out the yellow with Swiss skip Ott having two stones to go. Ott responds by hitting the red on the nose, just a case of whether the Swiss will take a one here or opt for the clearing to retain the hammer on the next end. 09.57 Sloan delivers her first stone, clears the yellow but also clears the house giving Switzerland a chance this end.

The Swiss wipe out the guard and it's nearly a clear sheet out there - aside from one stray red on the left out of the house. 09.55 END SIX: After setting up a guard, the strategy to this end appears to be just take out your last opponets stone as the rocks each have their five-seconds of fame inside the house. 09.50 How very Sunday football-esque as the women curlers retreat to the end of their sheet for some orange segments and apple wedges which have kindly been brought into the arena by some nice Sochi gamesmaker. Now back to the action... 09.46 Swiss skip Ott takes out the red in the centre to leave the yellow in the bullseye and now GB can take a two here if they clear the yellow and keep theirs in the house. Muirhead delivers her final stone and it's a clean delivery and that's a great two to draw level. END FIVE: Great Britain 3 Switzerland 3 09.44 The red that was lying just on the line in the house has been cleared by Ott leaving the Swiss with two in the blue.

Muirhead delivers a perfect stone direct into the middle of the two yellows and knocking them out of the house and leaving GB with two closer to the button and one each to play. 09.42 Three to play each, GB with the hammer and there's a crowded house out on the rink with a colour each still taking up residence in the bullseye and a colour edge on the rim of the blue circle. A big stone here from Sloan which comes in and clears the button, leaving the yellow still a touch closer to the centre, mind. 09.37 END FIVE: GB's Adam delivers two strong stones, the second wiping out the yellow lying at the top of the house. The Swiss put a second into the white circle but GB need a two from this end to give themselves a real chance. &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Lizzy Yarnold - Come on ladies you can do it. Never give up.

&amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt;#ilovecurling&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt;#GoTeamGB&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="" target="_blank"&amp;gt;@TeamGB&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; 09.30 Muirhead curls her final stone round the guard and just right of the house centre putting the pressure back on Swiss skip Ott. It's a slow delivery going for the centre and it just hangs on to the outer rim of the blue circle to take a point and restore their two-shot lead. END FOUR: Great Britain 1 Switzerland 3 09.28 Here come the skips. Muirhead takes out the yellow occupying the house but Swiss reply by knocking out the GB rock and clearing the house.

09.25 GB's Sloan takes out a yellow stone on the outer edge of the house to leave two red stones in the button, but Switerzland respond with another cracking shot, striking the first red at the top of the house and taking out the second. GB looking a little off the pace and showing signs of frustration on the ice. 09.21 END FOUR: GB start by putting their two guards in place a the top of the house, it's a tactic used by teams who don't have the hammer and used to protect the circle. Switzerland reply by knocking the top of the guard away. 09.16 Shouts of 'line's good' and 'keep it clean' as GB pick up a one as the stone pulls up in the button. End three: Great Britain 1 Switzerland 2 09.13 We're down to the nitty gritty part of the end then with a stone each to deliver and the Swiss with three in the house in compared to GB's two reds. GB have the hammer here. The Swiss go for a steady approach, going for a draw in the centre of the house and leaves them with four yellows in a reasonably straight line.

GB can go straight for the button here. 09.11 Sloan releases her second stone and wipes out the yellow on the rim of the blue circle to leave two reds closer to the centre. Ott fires down her first stone with real venom knocking the two red stones out of the house. 09.08 At least in curling you get to hear both teams shouting out their tactics as they plan their next move. Unlike doubles in tennis which usually sees plenty of whispering behind hands and annoying hand tapping between every single point. Here's how we're looking at just over the halfway stage in the third end. 09.05 END THREE: Switzerland set up a guard at the top of the house with two stones, GB gently sweep their next stone to take out the second Swiss stone to leave one stone a piece in the house. The red currently closer to the button. &amp;lt;noframe&amp;gt;Twitter: Chris Hoy - Just dawned on me why it's called 'Curling'; the stone 'curls' in as it rotates.

Otherwise it would just be called 'sliding' or something.&amp;lt;/noframe&amp;gt; 09.00 Adams's mistake from earlier this end was that she didn't clear one of the yellows away from the circle. Even when a stone is touching the circle by the slightest of margins, it's still in play. Switzerland's Tott delivers the final stone and it's a comfortable two for Switzerland to move in front. End two: Great Britain 0 Switzerland 2 08.58 Cries of 'Whhhooooaa' ring round the arena as Muirhead calls off her sweepers and delivers her first stone, hitting the yellow on the nose and out of the house. The Swiss skip steps up with a great shot, clearing both red stones clear to leave them with one in the button. 08.54 A second well-swept stone puts two in the hosue for GB and a chance of a steal this second end. Switzerland go big on this next release, hitting into their guard at the top and knocking one of the reds out but leaving GB still with slight advantage.

GB respond with another draw, it looked good from where I'm sitting even if co-commentator Jackie Lockhart feels like it should've had another rotation. She should know, she's an ex-curler and everything. 08.52 END TWO: Adams slaps her broom into the ice in frustration (I wonder if you can have broom violations in curling) as one of her releases doesn't come off the way she would've liked. On Adams's next release some great sweeping brings the stone into the house and nicely placed just above the yellow stone on the outer-rim of the blue circle. 08.46 Switzerland have opted for a clearing (leaving no stones in the house) as skip Eve Muirhead prepares for her first release. She goes for a draw (placing a stone straight into the house) leaving Switzerland skip Mirjam Tott and knocks out the Swiss stone on her next. When teams don't 'have the hammer', the idea is to try and limit your opponents to either a one, or attempt a steal. Switzerland, though, opt for a clearing so they retain the hammer for the next end.

End one: Great Britain 0 Switzerland 0 08.41 Switzerland have the hammer in this first end and it's a pretty cagey opening from both sides with them resorting to knocking the sole stone out of the house with each turn. The way this is playing out, Switzerland could be on for a one-pointer here. 08.35 END ONE: Vicki Adams was one of the stand-out members of GB in yesterday's loss to Canada and she starts off strongly here, knocking out a Swiss yellow stone to leave three red stones littered outside the house. Switzerland reply by knocking the stone at the top of the house clear. 08.28 Britain's women faced, and lost 8-6, to Switzerland in the round-robin stages with a couple of errors early on proving costly. Can they recover today? Here we go then...Britain will 'deliver' their stone first... 08.20 So we might all like to class ourselves as big curling fans now but would you class yourselves as an 'expert'? I mean, do you know what a 'Kizzle kazzle is'?

Have a read of Thom Gibbs's excellent idiot's guide to curling to bring you up to speed for the all-important final few matches at Sochi 2014 (sob, sob). 08.05 Where and how will you be watching today's match and even the men's gold-medal clash tomorrow? The BBC's slick coverage, courtesy of commentator Steve Cram and co-commentator Jackie Lockhart, and the sport's truly gripping action mean curling has a new wave of followers, have a read of Alan Tyers's TV review . 07.55 Fine margins can make the difference in curling, or even just a stray hair from a swooping broom. That was one of the contributing factors to GB's 6-4 loss to Canada. The loose strand caused a stone to deviate and allowed Canada to take a 2-0 lead early on with Muirhead admitting the gods of curling” deserted her . 07.45 Morning all and welcome to coverage of Great Britain women's curling bronze-medal match with Switzerland.

Eve Muirhead and her team were said to be too passive in their play against Canada in yesterday's semi-final defeat and have promised to use that hurt to good use this morning. GB's men, meanwhile, will have an extra day to prepare for their gold-medal clash against Canada after coming from behind to beat Sweden 6-5 in yesterday's semi. While we're waiting for the girls to make their way out on to the ice, have a read of Simon Hart's match report on our glorious boys. Women's Curling Medal Winners and Final Results from Olympics 2014 | Bleacher Report Women's Curling Medal Winners and Final Results from Olympics 2014 By Chris Roling , Featured Columnist Feb 20, 2014 Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more stories Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press 0 Comments The final four women's curling teams left to battle for three coveted podium spots at the 2014 Winter Olympics put on quite the show at the Ice Cube Curling Centre on Thursday in Sochi, Russia.

In the bronze-medal game, Great Britain was able to escape with a victory over Switzerland thanks to some late heroics by one of the sport's top stars. The winning squad secured the country's first medal in the discipline since 2002 and better positioned itself overall in the medal standings. The battle for the top podium spot between Canada and Sweden proved to be more highly contested than their 9-2 round-robin outcome in favor of the Canadians earlier in the Games, but a late mistake by the Swiss doomed their chances at a gold medal. — CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 20, 2014 With the gold medal, the Canadian women became the first rink to go undefeated at the Olympics. Women's Curling Medal Results Bronze-Medal Game: Great Britain 6, Switzerland 5 Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press Eve Muirhead With one stone left to play, Great Britain's Eve Muirhead came through in a big way to score her country the bronze medal. The overall framework of the matchup made it quite obvious things would come down to the end.

Switzerland jumped out to an early 2-0 lead by the second end thanks to a mistake by Vicki Adams, who failed to clear the circle to finish the end. Britain finally got on the board in the third end, but Switzerland responded in kind in the fourth to take a 3-1 advantage. The fifth frame is where things began to swing in Great Britain's favor. Switzerland's Mirjam Ott left a yellow in the bulls-eye with one shot to go in the fifth end, which Muirhead took advantage of with her final stone to score a deuce and knot things up at 3-3. The clutch performance was a strong bit of foreshadowing by the skip for Britain. Switzerland managed to take a 4-3 lead in the next frame, but made a critical error in giving the hammer back to Britain. Ollie Williams of the BBC illustrated this mistake best: Curling, where you can accidentally score points and hate yourself for it. Mistake from Mirjam Ott puts Swiss 4-3 up but hands hammer to GB.

— Ollie Williams (@OllieW) February 20, 2014 After a scoreless seventh in which they cleared the circle, Britain used this to its advantage in the eighth to score another deuce to take the lead by a 5-4 margin thanks to another strong final shot from Muirhead. With seemingly all the momentum in Britain's favor, Ott stepped up in a big way to once again tie things up. As Shelley Alexander of BBC Sport points out, both skips were putting on a fantastic show with everything on the line: Great shot from Eve Muirhead - what a super sportswoman under huge pressure #lovecurling . But the Swiss respond to tie the match up at 5-5 — Shelley Alexander (@ShelleyBBC) February 20, 2014 As is the case in most sports in this scenario with the top two players in stellar form, the skip with the last chance won the game. Ott put down another fantastic shot, but it was Britain with the hammer. On the final stone of the contest, Muirhead hit on a perfect placement to make it a 6-5 final and a bronze medal.

BRITISH BROOMS BRING HOME BRONZE! Eve Muirhead leads Britain's women to curling bronze. #lovecurling , eh. — Ollie Williams (@OllieW) February 20, 2014 The big win represents Britain's first Olympic curling medal since 2002, and Muirhead was quick to point out its importance after the match, via Lawrence Barretto and Stephan Shemilt of BBC Sport : Words can't describe it, it hasn't sunk in. It was a great game, we were chasing in the first half of the match and when we stepped in the second half. When you look at our success over the last couple of years, the one medal we were missing was the Olympic medal and we have got that now. I am so happy, we are all pushing each other and it makes it more fun to win something. Perhaps most impressive is the fact Muirhead led the youngest rink to ever win an Olympic curling medal to the photo finish just a day removed from heartbreak in the semifinal.

For Ott and the Swiss, a disappointing fourth-place finish at two Games in a row is pure heartbreak, but something the rink can build on moving forward. Gold-Medal Game: Canada 6, Sweden 3 Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press Jennifer Jones Canada and Sweden lived up to their heavyweight billing in the early goings of their gold-medal matchup. Undefeated Canada struck first in the opening end after Sweden forced the Canadians to prevent three points for the opening side. The Canadians successfully did so, but gave up the hammer in the process. Sweden quickly used the advantage to tie things up 1-1 at the conclusion of the second end. The action was close as expected between the two evenly matched rinks, as James Bisson of theScore illustrated in the early goings: The Canada-Sweden women's curling final has had awesome shots for single points in each of the first two ends. Gonna be a good one. — James Bisson (@james_bisson) February 20, 2014 The trend would continue through the next two ends. Canada grabbed a 3-1 advantage in the fourth thanks to a deuce from skip Jennifer Jones.

Sweden fired right back with two points of its own after, but as Cathal Kelly of The Toronto Sun points out, that output in the fifth end should have been doubled had they shot accurately on their final stone: Canada in really big trouble. Sweden with last rock. There's four points there to be taken. — cathalkelly (@cathalkelly) February 20, 2014 From there, the match became largely uneventful with scoreless frames until the eighth end, where Canada picked up a single point and surrendered the hammer after a close measurement. The Globe and Mail captured the tense moment (yes, the folks in charge gave Canada the yellow rocks and Sweden the red): By a hair, Canada scores one in 8th end to take lead over Sweden in women's curling pic.twitter.com/NYFvapFFkA — Globe Olympics (@GlobeOlympics) February 20, 2014 With the pressure on, the turning point in the match came in the ninth end as Sweden's Maria Prytz committed a major gaffe and gave two stones to Canada—making it a 6-3 advantage.

James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail shared his reaction: Sweden whiffs on final stone and Canada steals two in ninth end. That's very likely gold right there for @jjonescurl . — James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 20, 2014 The error proved to be the deciding factor in the match as the final end saw no points for either side. For Sweden, the match was a case of missed opportunities and errors that a better opponent was able to capitalize on en route to a higher finish. At the age of 39 and skip of an Olympic team, Jones led Canada to 11 wins in 11 matches and cemented her Olympic legacy. Canada was by far the best rink in Sochi, and Jones and her team's resiliency in the face of a tough final act is something that will live on as a highlight of the 2014 Games.

Sochi 2014: Great Britain's women beaten by Canada in curling semi-final | Sport | The Guardian Sochi 2014: Great Britain's women beaten by Canada in curling semi-final • Jennifer Jones proves difference as Team GB lose 6-4 • Result means bronze medal at best for Britain's women Anna Sloan, left, Claire Hamilton, Eve Muirhead and Vicky Adams embrace after Great Britain's defeat to Canada in the curling semi-final. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA Wednesday 19 February 2014 08.08 EST First published on Wednesday 19 February 2014 08.08 EST Close This article is 2 years old Eve Muirhead's British curling rink came within a hair's breadth of making the final but failed to recover from early setbacks against the unbeaten Canadians, losing 6-4 and facing a fight for bronze. Nothing went right for Muirhead's young team from the moment the skip suffered a "pick up" in the first end with her first stone. Debris on the sheet, in this case a hair from a curling brush, made her stone deviate from the line.

Like a kick in snooker or a bad bounce in golf, it sent her stone skidding through the back of the house and left a furious Muirhead ruing her bad luck. That left the imperious Canadians 2-0 up and after allowing their opponents to steal another point against the hammer in the second end, Great Britain battled hard but were unable to wrest back control. "I just don't think the curling Gods were with us," said Muirhead afterwards. "That pick up was brutal. Losing a two off the bat from something you can't control against Team Canada is going to be tough to come back from. We did come back. But anything we left them they made today." The 23-year-old skip said she was "so, so proud" of her team and said they would gather themselves for Thursday's bronze medal match against Switzerland. "Believe you me, I don't want to come away without a bronze medal around my neck," she said. The Canadian skip, Jennifer Jones, made every shot and sealed victory by curling her stone into the centre of the house for victory.

"You feel like your back is up against the wall, but I believe we were giving everything back to them," said Muirhead, whose rink beat the Canadians last year on their way to winning the world championships. "It was a high quality game. We've still got a chance for a medal so we're going to give it our all, for sure." The coach, David Hay, said he was proud of the way Muirhead's rink recovered from their early setbacks and pushed the Canadians all the way. But whenever there was a chink of light, the Canadians slammed the door shut. Muirhead blanked out the seventh and eighth ends, not wanting to only take a single and hand the initiative of having the hammer – the opportunity to play the last shot – to the Canadians. But they were forced to take a single on the ninth, leaving the Canadians with the advantage in the final end. Muirhead put pressure on Jones by forcing her to play a challenging final shot but the Canadian again rose to the occasion. Jones, a qualified lawyer who took time out of the sport last year to have a baby, played her shots with 89% accuracy.

"It was one of those games when we made the big shots when we had to," she said. "We never let them take control of the game." Vicki Adams, Britain's No2, was in tears afterwards as the beaming Canadians celebrated. "It's tough to take losses when you gave it 110%," said Muirhead. "I believe we played well out there, but not well enough. When you're up against a team shooting lights out like they did, it's going to be tough. That's sport." With the British Olympic Association chairman, Lord Coe, and other members of Team GB watching on, Muirhead's side didn't want for support. Union Jack flags and banners were more in evidence than at any other time during the tournament. "You don't want to get a start like that," said Hay. "It is difficult, you've then got to score three more than them. It was one of those freak things. These things happen and you just have to accept it. "The good thing from my point of view is that the girls played bloody well. That was probably our best game of the week percentage wise and performance wise.

The first thing they said in the changing room was that they wanted to win bronze now." As well as their bad luck in the semi-final, Team GB may also have cause to rue a slack finish to their final round-robin game. If they hadn't lost to Denmark when leading 7-4 going into the final end, they would have played Sweden instead of Canada.

As it was, the Swedes defeated Switzerland 7-5 on the adjacent sheet and will face Canada, who could be the first team to go through an entire Olympic tournament unbeaten, in the final Rolling report: An action packed day saw GB men reach the the final of the men’s curling and Russia exit the ice hockey competition Published: 19 Feb 2014 Rolling report: The United States face beat the Czech Republic 5-2 to reach the men’s ice hockey tournament semifinals in Sochi Published: 19 Feb 2014 Lauryn Williams wins Winter medal to add to Summer gold and silver but Kaillie Humprhies and Heather Moyse are champions Published: 19 Feb 2014 Great Britain's men's curling team will go for gold at the Winter Olympics on Friday after beating Sweden 6-5 in a compelling semi-final in Sochi which had the most dramatic of ending Published: 19 Feb 2014 Curling Curling Facebook.com | @Terry_USACurl | YouTube.com/terryk6276 PREVIEW The U.S.

men’s and women’s curling teams entered the 2012-13 season thirsty for success and looking to both reach the podium at the world championships and earn a chance to compete at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. The women’s team was ranked fifth in the qualifying standings at the end of 2012, and is poised to earn an Olympic berth with a good showing at the 2013 Women’s World Championship in Riga, Latvia. The men’s team will need a top-eight finish at the 2013 Men’s World Championship in Victoria, British Columbia, to seal a direct berth; otherwise the U.S. men will be relegated to qualifying at the WCF Olympic Qualifying Event in December. The U.S. women will be looking to make their first world championship podium appearance since 2006, while the men are hoping to return to the medal stand for the first time since 2007. The teams vying for berths to the Sochi Games will be determined at the 2013 USA Curling National Championships in February in Green Bay, Wis.

The curling competition for the Sochi Games will feature 10 men’s and 10 women’s teams. The teams will play in a nine-game round robin tournament, followed by a playoff format for the semifinal and medal rounds. The competition will be contested at the 3,000-seat Ice Cube Curling Center, located in the Coastal Cluster within the Olympic Park. The U.S. curling team is looking to win its first Olympic medal since 2006, when Pete Fenson’s team captured the bronze – the first medal for Team USA in program history. Fenson’s team has already qualified for the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and is considered a favorite to represent Team USA in Sochi. STORYLINES After underperforming at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, USA Curling’s high performance program has made major strides. The hiring of the organization’s first high performance director in 2011, coupled with the development of a national coaching program, the U.S. has its sights set on medaling at international competitions this year. Curling continues to experience growth across the United States, due largely in part to increased television exposure.

Curling clubs are now located in 42 U.S. states, with membership increasing 47 percent between 2002 and 2011. The growth of the sport and the association’s emphasis on coaching, instruction and youth programs will help fuel a stronger pipeline of future Olympians. Team Erika Brown is an all-star team featuring four Olympians who are off to a great start this season. Brown, a 1998 Olympian, leads the team that features three-time Olympian Debbie McCormick (1998, 2002, 2010), 2006 Olympian Jessica Schultz and 2002 Olympian Ann Swisshelm. The quartet will look to return to the Olympic Games in 2014, and if successful, should not be overlooked as a medal contender. The team had won three events on the world curling tour by the end of 2012, and is a pre-season favorite to win the 2013 national title. Curling has progressed from an Olympic television trend in 2002 to a well-known sport in 2012.

The increased public awareness has helped generate unique opportunities for the sport, including a spot in the 2012 Super Bowl Village, as well as a strong relationship with the San Francisco 49ers Foundation and star tight end Vernon Davis, who was the honorary captain of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Men’s Curling Team. USA Curling was also selected to host the 2014 Continental Cup in Las Vegas, which marked the first international event on U.S. soil. ATHLETES TO WATCH Erika Brown Brown was just 15 years old when she made the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team when curling was still a demonstration sport. Now, the 39-year-old is leading a team of seasoned Olympic veterans and is on target to earn a berth in the upcoming U.S. Olympic Team Trials. A physician’s assistant and mother of two boys, Brown comes from a family of stellar curlers. Her brother, Craig Brown, has won two national titles and is a 2014 Olympic hopeful, while her father, Steve Brown, is a legendary curler with multiple national titles. Steve Brown now leads the U.S.

Paralympic wheelchair curling program, and is the proud owner of Steve’s Curling Supplies, which is the most recognizable curling equipment supplier in the country. Pete Fenson Fenson earned the U.S. its first and only Olympic medal in curling, winning bronze at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The venerable skip is at the top of his game, winning national titles in 2010 and 2011, and finishing second in 2012. The 43-year-old owner of a pizza parlor has been Team USA’s most consistent athlete at the skip position in the past decade and is poised to earn his second Olympic berth. Chris Plys The alternate and media darling of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team, Plys lost his father to brain cancer in 2011, but has shined as a leader on and off the ice with his new team. To commemorate his father, Plys co-founded Project Joy, which helps feed the hungry in Duluth, Minn. An aspiring musician, Plys cut his first CD in 2010 after the Vancouver Games.

Cassie Potter Potter (née Johnson) was just 24 years old when she led the U.S. women’s team at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games after a stellar junior career, which included the United States’ only women’s world junior gold medal. Since then, Potter graduated from college, became a wife and is now preparing to welcome her first child in 2013. The 31-year-old finished second at last year’s nationals and continues to show steady improvement in her game calling and overall curling skills. Allison Pottinger Pottinger moved up to the skip position after the Vancouver Games with Debbie McCormick’s departure from the team. She is the most decorated U.S. curler in history with 10 national titles to her credit. The 39-year-old mother of two continues to blend her career as a marketing research analyst at General Mills with high-performance training and competition. John Shuster The skip of the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team and member of the 2006 U.S.

Olympic bronze medal-winning team, Shuster is off to strong start in 2012-13 and will compete for a chance to return to the medal podium in Sochi. His squad features a young crop of Minnesota natives that will undoubtedly bring a lot of energy as they seek an Olympic berth at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in November. QUALIFICATION Nations earn berths to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games based on total points accumulated at the 2012 and 2013 World Championships. At the conclusion of the 2013 event in April, the top-eight countries (men’s and women’s) earn an automatic qualifying spot to the Olympic Games. Two additional teams (men’s and women’s) will get a second chance to earn an Olympic berth at the WCF Olympic Qualifying Event in December, bringing the total field to 10 men’s and 10 women’s teams for the Sochi Games. SELECTION The 2014 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling will take place Nov. 10-17 in Fargo, N.D.

Four women’s teams and up to five men’s teams will compete for a spot on the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team. The final slate of hopefuls will be announced by May 2013. KEY DATES Winter Olympics 2014: Britain's women's curling team freeze under weight of expectation in Ice Box | The Independent Winter Olympics 2014: Britain's women's curling team freeze under weight of expectation in Ice Box Led by Eve Muirhead, the women curlers are among Team GB's best hopes of a medal Monday 10 February 2014 18:33 BST Click to follow The Independent Online Eve Muirhead of Great Britain watches Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden during the round robin match against Sweden GETTY IMAGES It began with Scotland the Brave, took in Russia the bemused but boisterous and ended with Britain the beaten as Eve Muirhead’s rink, the favourites for gold, lost their opening fixture to Sweden, their main rivals. David Murdoch’s men began with victory over Russia but, at the end of a long day that demanded nearly six hours on the ice, they then also lost to the Swedes.

Curling, with its oddities and characteristic Winter Olympic impenetrable jargon, has become a mainstay of the Games and for its opening session the hot ticket was to the Ice Cube. When two kilted pipers and drummers led the men’s team out into the arena – it is a tradition to begin every contest with a swirl of the pipes and a nod to the sport’s Scottish roots – there was a who’s who of Team GB, swaddled in their dark blue jackets, up in the stands. There was Sebastian Coe, Princess Anne, Mike Hay, the team’s chef de mission, and alongside him the woman he coached to gold a dozen years ago in Salt Lake City, Rhona Howie (she has changed her name back from Martin to her maiden one after she and her husband split up). Even culture secretary Maria Miller, whose sporting knowledge quite possibly matches the curling know-how of the average Russian – or Briton for that matter – was there.

Winter Olympics 2014: The best images from Sochi Winter Olympics 2014: The best images from Sochi 1/78 24 February 2014 Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C) poses for a photo with Russian athletes, winners of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, in Sochi GETTY IMAGES 2/78 23 February 2014 Hundreds of dancers join together to form the Olympics logo, with the fifth ring purposefully representing the malfunction in the opening ceremony.

Reuters 3/78 23 February 2014 Fireworks explode around the Fisht Olympic Stadium at the end of the Closing Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics at the Olympic Park in Sochi 4/78 23 February 2014 Alexander Zubkov’s four-man bobsleigh team celebrate gold for Russia reuters 5/78 23 February 2014 Pilot John James Jackson, Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon of Great Britain team 1 make a run during the Men's Four Man Bobsleigh GETTY IMAGES Silver medalist David Murdoch of Great Britain celebrates during the medal ceremony for Men's Curling Getty Images 7/78 21 February 2014 Jianrou Li of China slides into the way of Elise Christie of Great Britain while competing in the Short Track Women's 1000m Semifinals GETTY IMAGES 8/78 21 February 2014 Elise Christie of Great Britain, Seung-Hi Park of South Korea, Marie-Eve Drolet of Canada and Veronique Pierron of France compete in the Short Track speed skating quarter-finals GETTY IMAGES 9/

78 21 February 2014 Despite still winning a silver medal, David Murdoch reflects on what could have been after his Team GB curling rink lose 9-3 to Canada in the gold medal match GETTY IMAGES 10/78 21 February 2014 Ukraine win their first gold medal of the Games with Vita Semerenko shooting at the range to help secure the Women's Biathlon 4x6 km Relay title GETTY IMAGES 11/78 21 February 2014 Sweden’s Fredrik Lindberg shouts out orders to his teammates as Sweden go on to claim bronze in the curling, beating China 6-4 GETTY IMAGES 12/78 21 February 2014 Franziska Preuss of Germany competes during the Women's 4 x 6 km Relay in a Sochi sunset behind her GETTY IMAGES David Murdoch pictured during the curling final which Team GB lost 9-3 to Canada GETTY IMAGES Eve Muirhead in action in the bronze medal match, which Team GB won, beating Switzerland GETTY IMAGES 15/78 20 February 2014 Great Britain's Anna Sloan,

 Eve Muirhead, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton celebrate after winning the Women's Curling Bronze Medal Game at the Ice Cube Curling Center GETTY IMAGES 16/78 20 February 2014 Great Britain's Anna Sloan, Eve Muirhead, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton celebrate after winning the Women's Curling Bronze Medal Game at the Ice Cube Curling Center GETTY IMAGES 17/78 20 February 2014 Great Britain's Anna Sloan, Eve Muirhead, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton celebrate after winning the Women's Curling Bronze Medal Game at the Ice Cube Curling Center GETTY IMAGES 18/78 19 February 2014 Finland's goalkeeper Tuukka Rask (L) celebrates with a team-mate at the end of the Men's Ice Hockey play-off quarter-final against Russia, which they won 3-1 GETTY IMAGES 19/78 19 February 2014 Canada's Skip Jennifer Jones celebrates after throwing the last stone to win the game against Team GB GETTY IMAGES 20/78 19 February 2014 Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vick

i Adams, and Claire Hamilton of Great Britain console each other after losing to Canada in the curling semi-final GETTY IMAGES 21/78 19 February 2014 Norway's Marit Bjoergen crosses the finish line to win in the Women's Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint Classic Final at the Laura Cross-Country Ski and Biathlon Center GETTY IMAGES 22/78 19 February 2014 Gold medalists Finland's Sami Jauhojaervi (bacK L) and Finland's Iivo Niskanen (16 R) react at the finish line of the Men's Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint Classic Final GETTY IMAGES A fan takes a snap at the Sochi games GETTY IMAGES Violinist Vanessa Mae pictured competing in Sochi GETTY IMAGES 25/78 18 February 2014 Cameron Bolton of Australia (yellow bib) leads the field in the Men's Snowboard Cross 1/8 Finals GETTY IMAGES Vanessa-Mae competes before finishing 74th after her first run in the women's giant slalom GETTY IMAGES 27/78 18 February 2014

 Scott Andrews of Great Britain throws the rock while playing Norway during the Curling at Ice Cube Curling Center on day 11 GETTY IMAGES 28/78 18 February 2014 Team GB men's curling captain celebrates his two-point haul in the final end of their tie-break 6-5 victory over Norway GETTY IMAGES 29/78 17 February 2014 Rowan Cheshire posted this picture on Twitter showing the extent of her injuries from a skiing accident in training Twitter/@Rowan_C_ 30/78 17 February 2014 Rui Liu of China competes against Great Britian during the Men's Curling Round Robin on day ten of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics GETTY IMAGES 31/78 17 February 2014 Great Britain skipper Eve Muirfield guided her team to a 9-6 victory over Russia to qualify for at least a tie-breaker for the semi-finals GETTY IMAGES 32/78 16 February 2014 Alisa Agafonova and Alper Ucar of Turkey compete during the Figure Skating Ice Dance Short Dance

 GETTY IMAGES A view of the Ice Hockey in Sochi GETTY IMAGES 34/78 16 February 2014 Ilya Nikulin #5 of Russia talks with Zdeno Chara #33 of Slovakia after defeating Slovakia in a shoot out during the Men's Ice Hockey Preliminary Round Group A game Getty Images 35/78 16 February 2014 David Murdoch of Great Britain looks on during the Curling Men's Round Robin match between Great Britain and Norway GETTY IMAGES Lizzy Yarnold celebrates her victory for Great Britain in the skeleton in Sochi GETTY IMAGES Lizzy Yarnold looks delighted after her first two runs in the skeleton GETTY IMAGES Lizzy Yarnold goes on her first run in the skeleton GETTY IMAGES Elise Christie crashes out in the 500m speed skating final GETTY IMAGES Great Britain's James Woods competes in the Men's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle GETTY IMAGES Great Britain's James Woods competes in the Men's Freestyle Skiing Slopestyle GETTY IMAGES Eve Muirhead in action against China GETTY IMAGES Lizzy Yarnold pictured practicing at the Games GETTY IMAGES Eve Muirfield guides a stone across

 the ice during Great Britain's 9-6 defeat to Canada GETTY IMAGES Chemmy Alcott finished in 19th place in the women's downhill skiing GETTY IMAGES Shaun White of the United States congratulates gold medalist Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland Getty Images Seamus O'Connor progressed to the men's snowboard halfpipe semi-final GETTY IMAGES Andrew Musgrave qualified for the cross-country men's sprint quarter-finals GETTY IMAGES 49/78 11 February 2014 Dara Howell celebrates her gold medal in the ski slopestyle final with Devin Logan (L) finishing second and Kim Lamarre (R) taking bronze GETTY IMAGES 50/78 11 February 2014 Katie Summerhayes qualified for the ski slopestyle final with two solid runs but could only manage seventh GETTY IMAGES Lizzy Arnold topped the timesheets once again during the skeleton training heats GETTY IMAGES British medal hope Jack Whelbourne crashes out of the 1500m speed skating final GETTY IMAGES 53/78 10 February 2014 Eve Muirhead of Great Britain watches Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden during the round robin match

 against Sweden GETTY IMAGES 54/78 10 February 2014 Lizzy Yarnold tops the timesheets on the opening day of training in the skeleton competition in Sochi GETTY IMAGES 55/78 10 February 2014 Team GB men's curling captain David Merdoch had a perfect record in his side's 7-4 victory over Russia GETTY IMAGES 56/78 9 February 2014 Ireen Wust of the Netherlands becomes the first openly gay athlete to win gold in Sochi GETTY IMAGES Jenny Jones with her Bronze medal PA 58/78 9 February 2014 Great Britain's Jenny Jones celebrates after finding out she won Bronze in the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle Final PA 59/78 9 February 2014 Jenny Jones of Great Britain celebrates an historic bronze on the snow after the flower ceremony of the Women's Snowboard Slopestyle final at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park EPA The remains of a door kicked in in the athletes village 61/78 8 February 2014 Sage Kotsenburg of the USA took gold in the snowboard slopestyle GET

TY IMAGES Jamie Nicholls finished sixth in the snowboard slopestyle final GETTY IMAGES Marit Bjoergen took gold for Norway in the cross country skiing GETTY IMAGES 64/78 7 February 2014 Fireworks go off over the Olympic Park at the end of the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games at the Fisht Olympic Stadium EPA 65/78 7 February 2014 The Olympic Rings as presented by Sochi 2014, where the fifth metal ring failed to illuminate Twitter A general view of the ice in the Ice Cube Curling Center GETTY IMAGES Short track speed skater Richard Shoebridge of Great Britain practices at the Iceberg Skating Palace GETTY IMAGES Severin Freund of Germany jumps during the Men's Normal Hill Individual Ski Jumping training GETTY IMAGES A ski jumper (R) is seen during practice at the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center GETTY IMAGES 70/78 6 February 2014 Austria's Miriam Kastlunger races during a women's Luge training session at the Sanki Sliding Centre in Rosa Khutor GETTY IMAGES Marika Pertakhiya of Russia

 competes in the Ladies' Moguls Qualification GETTY IMAGES Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan competes in the Figure Skating Men's Short Program GETTY IMAGES 73/78 6 February 2014 Volunteers skiers take part in the cross-country training session at the Laura Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon Centre in Rosa Khuto GETTY IMAGES Germany's Biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle prepares to shoot near the Olympic rings GETTY IMAGES An Alpine Skiier in practice 76/78 6 February 2014 Winston Watts of Jamaica pilots a bobsleigh practice run ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics GETTY IMAGES Jamie Nicholls has qualified for Saturday's Snowboard style finals on the opening day of competition GETTY IMAGES Eve Muirhead's girls can't hold back tears after bronze curling medal win | Daily Mail Online comments Eve Muirhead, joyfully, tearfully, established British Olympic history as Team GB’s women's curling quartet won a bronze medal in the Ice Cube on Thursday.

With the men’s team led by David Murdoch assured of at least a silver medal on Friday, Britain are guaranteed four medals from Sochi 2014, the greatest Olympic bullion from a Winter Games for 90 years. ‘The historians tell me that’s the most medals we have at won at the Winter Olympics since Chamonix 1924, so I’ll settle for that,’ smiled Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the British Olympic Association, and a man with an enviable Olympic pedigree, as an athlete, and the mastermind behind London 2012. He was rink side to watch history made. Overcome: Anna Sloan hugs GB coach David Hay after they won a bronze medal in the curling emotions: Eve Muirhead (left) can't hold back the tears with Anna Sloan and Claire Hamilton (right) ‘Thank goodness, I didn’t know that we could make history before my final shot!’ said Muirhead. ‘But to hear about that now that will make the stone live with me forever.’ Muirhead’s last stone, an out-turn draw to the button, brought Team GB a thrilling 6-5 victory over Switzerland.

One of the first to congratulate the British girls, Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton, all from Scotland, was Rhona Martin, who delivered Britain a gold medal in Salt Lake City 12 years ago with a shot that has passed into British Olympic history, as the Stone of Destiny. She hugged them one by one on the side of the rink as tears of relief and joy flowed. The evening before there had been tears of a different kind after the British women had been eliminated from the gold medal final by Canada in the semi-finals. ‘Yesterday, everyone was devastated,’ admitted Martin, the national coach. ‘I’m really proud of the girls, it showed the huge character of this team. ‘We were sad and disappointed on Wednesday night. We had to have time to grieve a loss like that, and we had a full debrief, then got ready for the bronze medal match. Today, the girls were so calm.’ Muirhead, 23, added: ‘An Olympic medal, what a dream come true.

We are a young team, and we have a massive future ahead of us.’ Celebrations: The GB team wave to their supporters after winning a bronze medal in Sochi Eyes on the prize: Eve Muirhead rolls down a stone during the bronze medal match against Switzerland Neatly, Muirhead side-stepped the political land mine surrounding the determination of Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, to secure independence for Scotland in a referendum in September. ‘We are proud to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, and we are proud to represent Scotland in other competitions,’ said Muirhead. She was swift to praise the contribution of coach, David Hay. ‘The difference he has made is night and day,’ said Muirhead. ‘He was brilliant after our loss to Canada – and he was inspirational again before today’s match.’ Muirhead was also appreciative for the message received from oarswoman Katherine Grainger, who, having won three Olympic silver medals, finally, and gloriously, won a gold at London 2012. ‘Katherine’s email meant so much, because we all knew she had been through a lot of disappointments,’ said Muihead.

Sir Chris Hoy, an Olympic legend from cycling, also played a role having been invited to give the curling team a motivational speech on the road to Sochi 2014. ‘Chris came and spoke to us, and all these factors help,’ said Muirhead. Her own toughness was also at the heart of this recovery. ‘Eve’s very strong,’ said Martin, a woman of some fortitude herself. Muirhead said, dryly: ‘I know I come across stern-faced, and focused from what people see on the television. But inside, maybe, I am not as tough as I come across. At the end I just felt relief – a huge relief. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go home without a medal.’ Anxious wait: Muirhead with team-mate Anna Sloan as they try to decide what shot to play Concentration: Switzerland skip Mirkam Ott delivers a stone down the rink Switzerland’s skip Mirjam Ott must have felt the pain of defeat hardest.

For she had been leading the Swiss team that Martin – now Howie – had condemned to defeat as more than six million watched at home in Britain as the Olympic final in Salt Lake City reached its climax at approaching 1.00 am. Like then, Ott could not have done more. ‘We battled, but Eve’s team was very strong today,’ said Ott. ‘Too strong to beat. Her last draw was very good.’ The medal swung towards Britain in the eighth end of 10, when they took two shots to lead 5-4. In the next end, they restricted Switzerland to scoring just one to level the score at 5-5. Crucially, the British team reclaimed the hammer – the right to the final shot. Muirhead’s team played a tactically astute end to deprive the Swiss of any semblance of hope of capitalising on a mistake under pressure. And when it came to the last shot, Muirhead was the calmest person in the Ice Cube. As her stone – bearing the weight of 90 years of history – drew to a slow halt on the spot in the house she had set her sights on, the bronze medal was in British possession.

For Murdoch, the mission is to become Olympic champion on Friday to put a golden varnish on British curling. ‘David just has to control what he can control,’ said Martin. Then, she laughed impishly: ‘The 21st of February was the date I won in Salt Lake City, so no pressure Dave!’ Close: Sloan plays a stone during the tense match which GB won by the skin of their teeth Hard work: Sloan and Vicki Adams (right) scrub as hard as they can to get a stone where they need

Question: In the 2014 Winter Olympic Games who did the British women's curling team defeat to win a bronze medal?
Answer: Switzerland