Eve vows to thrive as GB’s final medal hope
Ematch. Team GB officials need one more medal to achieve their pre-Games target and Muirhead, alongside Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Lauren Gray, look the only chance remaining. “I’ve played three Olympics now. That experience is in the bank. I know I’ve been there and I know what it will feel like,” she said.
“I know what it’s like to lose an Olympic semi-final, that defeat in Sochi was the worst of my career and the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. I do believe you learn more about yourselves in these situations and become stronger for it.”
In contrast, Swedish skip Anna Hasselborg is making her Olympic debut here and she has history with Muirhead in recent months.
The Scot beat her to win bronze at last year’s World Championship and again to win the European title in December.
However, Hasselborg edged their encounter during the round-robin stage.
It’s 16 years since Rhona Howie delivered the stone of destiny to win curling gold for Great Britain – a match an 11-year-old Muirhead was allowed to stay up and watch.
“We all know what Rhona did for the sport in 2002, she put it on the map and changed everything for the people that followed her,” adds Muirhead. “It’s not a burden, what she did led to the funding we receive and the facilities we get to train on. We may not be in this position if it wasn’t for her.”
Meanwhile, Kyle Smith says he will learn the lessons of his Olympic curling disappointment after the British skip l ost 9-5 to Switzerland in a play-off tiebreaker, meaning he finishes fifth on his Olympic debut.
Smith said: “We gave it our best shot but that’s the dream over. There are l ots of positives to take from this and learn from.”