Great Britain, at the final time of asking, secured the first Team GB gold medal of the Winter Olympics early Sunday in emphatic fashion.
The women’s curling team took the gold against Japan 10-3 to add to the silver won by the men’s team on Saturday as the games came to an end.
Eve Muirhead, Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff and Mili Smith were the heroines of the hour at China‘s National Aquatics Centre.
The 50-strong Team GB faced flying home on Monday without any podium honors to show for their efforts, but within the space of 24 hours, the curlers showed how it is done.
Skip Eve Muirhead, Vice Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff and Mili Smith celebrate after winning the match Sunday.
Men’s captain Bruce Mouat told Mail Online that even while waiting to board his flight to Beijing, he had been asked whether curling really could be regarded as a sport.
But both curling teams are bringing home the only two gongs and interest in the sport is likely to increase massively following the two medals.
For Muirhead, 31, of Stirling, who has captained Britain at three Olympics ,the gold was a fitting prize after failing to medal before and using her experiences in leading a team of Olympic debutants at these games to a gold medal.
Wright, 28, also from Stirling, stepped away from the road to Beijing and went back to the NHS frontline to help with the battle against Covid-19 as a staff nurse in the Forth Valley.
In Beijing, Dodds became the first woman to represent Britain at two disciplines at the same Winter Olympics as she partnered Mouat in the mixed doubles event.
Vicky Wright of Team Great Britain competes during the Women’s Gold Medal match with Japan in Beijing
The team and alternate (sub) Smith were only formed in December last year. Rhona Howe, who skippered, joked: ‘It took them 20 years…what took so long?’
Vice Vicky Wright of Britain and Hailey Duff of Britain celebrate after winning the game
She had been dreaming of competing at the Olympics since the age of eight and gave up her job as an office assistant to train full time at Gogar Park Curling Club in Edinburgh.
Duff, 25, from Forfar was born in New Zealand and was introduced to the sport by her father.
She worked as a buyer for a furniture company before enrolling on a sports and fitness degree with the Open University.
Former Olympic Curler Jackie Lockhart, who at the match, told the BBC: ‘The Japanese girls just came up against a team who were on fire today. They brought their A game.
‘Just believe, just keep trying, Eve Muirhead has never stopped.’
The team and alternate (sub) Smith were only formed in December last year.
Rhona Howe, who skippered Team GB to its last curling gold in 2002, joked: ‘It took them 20 years…what took so long?’
She added: ‘Look what this team has achieved in less than a year. It’s phenomenal.’
Dodds said she was grateful to those who stayed up into the early hours to watch the gold medal victory. ‘Can I just say thank you to all our friends and families supporting us. They know how much this means to us and I’m sure they’re all jumping up and down in front of their TV screens just now.
‘We built on every game, we got more and more confident every game.’
Dodds said: ‘ I don’t really know what’s happened. I don’t think it’s going to sink in for a while. I’m speechless.’
Japan’s Yurika Yoshida walks off the ice as Britain’s athletes celebrate at the end of the women’s curling final match between Japan and Britain Sunday in Beijing.
Britain’s Eve Muirhead celebrates winning gold after the women’s curling final match with Japan in Beijing.
But she added: ‘I’m so proud of these girls and the way they played in that final and the whole week.
‘We built on every game, we got more confidence every game. Hopefully that was slightly less stressful than the semi-final for all our families.’
Muirhead said: ‘It’s going to take a long time to sink, I think, because I’m not sure it has yet.
‘What a performance out there today. We saved our best game till last. It’s been a long time coming and I think for us as a team we’ve worked so hard to get here. I’m just so proud of them all.
‘It feels bizarre, to be honest. To think it was 20 years ago when Rhona made history in Great Britain by winning that gold medal. We’ve followed in her footsteps and done it 20 years later. It’s incredible, it really is.’
Wright added: ‘We were really confident going into that game. We prepared the exact same way we had prepared for every game and we just went out there and gave it our best.’
Team GB coach David Murdoch said: ‘It was a perfect performance, the composure and the calmness. What we discussed through the week was evident today and you could see all the girls were so relaxed. It was really the key to success today.
‘We know how good they are, how hard they’ve trained, and how they can play. Just to see the composition and the hard fight, it was incredible today
‘Somethings are in the stars, right? They worked so hard and they deserve every moment of this because of the hard work they put in every day, the sacrifices they made, they deserve the moment.
‘It was in their hands today to go out and deliver and show really the skills they have. It was incredible.’
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