Scots curlers ‘gutted’ after controversial defeat
● Briton defends her skeleton Olympic title in emphatic style with blistering run
Team GB curlers Anna Sloan and Eve Muirhead were left devastated after a controversial defeat against Sweden at the Winter Olympics. The British team had taken the favourites to an extra end when a rare penalty was given against Muirhead, handing victory to the Swedes. Video replies appeared to show Muirhead’s throw was good.
Curling is the latest sport to become embroiled in the debate over the use of video replays – after Britain’s women were hit with a controversial penalty which footage suggested may have been incorrect.
Team GB’S Perth-born captain Eve Muirhead took to Twitter to protest over a penalty imposed on her for not releasing the final stone before the red line in their Olympic encounter with Sweden.
The violation allowed their rivals to claim victory, but left a bitter taste for the British team and their coaches.
The curling stones used in Pyeongchang are fitted with a censor that lights up green if the handle is released in time or red if it is not. However there is no other review process in place if a penalty is disputed.
Muirhead, who posted a picture on Twitter which appeared to provide she had let go of the stone before it crossed the line, said: “The red light came on so that’s counted as a hogged rock, so that has to be taken off.
“When you see the replays in the stadium it looks like it was. It’s hard to take and it comes down to inches and millimetres. It’s the first stone I have ever hogged in my life and it comes at a time like that.
“We have had the stone tested and it’s fine so there’s nothing we can do, we have to move on.
“When something like that happens it makes it very tough to take and it’s gutting that it finished that way.”
T ea mgb coach glen howard said: “I’ve only seen one replay and it looks like Eve has let go of the rock prior to the hog line and the light went off.
“Then all they do is question the handle on the rock, and test whether the lights are working properly. The lights were working properly so therefore it becomes a hog line violation.
“The only thing I can think of is Eve has let go of the rock prior to the hog line, it crossed the line and then she happens to just touch it again with her finger on the handle to then activate the light.
“You could call it a double touch. It’s a horrible way to finish the game.”
Cricket, football, rugby and tennis have all made use of video technology in recent years, but its introduction to curling has been resisted by the sport’s governing bodies.
BBC curling commentator Jackie Lockhart, a four-time Olympian, said: “I have never seen that before, especially with the last stone in the last end.
“You have to release the stone clearly before the hogline Sometimes under a little bit of pressure you can hold on to the stone too long. You have to rely on technology. It’s a real sad factor.
“All sports are progressing and we probably have to start looking at using video footage as well. That’s really disappointing. It’s not the way you want it to happen.”
The defeat leaves Eve Muirhead’s rink with three wins out of six so far, with three more round robin matches to come - against Switzerland today, Japan tomorrow and Canada on Wednesday.
The top four sides qualify for the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, curling has become involved in another controversy after reports that Russian bronze medallist Alexander Krushelnitsky had failed a drugs test.
He is said to have tested positive for meldonium, the heart drug that led to tennis star Maria Sharapova receiving a 15-month ban.
A statement from the International Olympics Committee said: “On the one hand it is extremely disappointing when prohibited substances might have been used, but on the other hand it shows the effectiveness of the anti-doping system, which protects the rights of all the clean athletes.”
Picture this, Lizzy Yarnold, her brain fried by euphoria, sitting up in bed watching her favourite crime drama with balls of wool in her lap. Knitting and Netflix, the breakfast of champions.
Yarnold did not look bad for three hours sleep. The restorative property of gold had clearly worked its magic. If winning the ultimate Olympic garland once was fun, imagine the emotive power of doubling up to engrave your name on another “Super Saturday” for British sport.
Maybe this did not have quite the force of London 2012, when Jessica, Mo and Greg blew the doors off that magical summer night, yet her bullet run down a chute of ice-lined concrete pinned to a Korean mountain was still 51.46 seconds of heart-thudding, escalating excitement.
Yarnold did not so much dominate as obliterate her skeleton rivals, wrenching gold by almost half a second. In a contest measured in nano units, this was a country mile. “I guess as each minute passes it becomes more of a reality but it’s still an unbelievable series of events, everything coming together,” Yarnold said, still joining the dots from the night before alongside her bronze-winning team-mate Laura Deas, pictured right.
“There’s a whole dream if everything goes right, do this, get this corner, if speed comes, everything will work magically. Now, it’s a relief that it did all go to plan, hopefully in time. When I have the medal in my hands, it will be more real. It was a big dream to challenge myself and try to defend my title straight after Sochi. To get to win an Olympic title is just awesome, a massive, massive honour.”
Yarnold’s achievement is the more remarkable given the portents. Only once had she finished on the podium, at the season’s first race three months ago in Lake Placid. Her best since was fourth at Konigsee in the last run before Pyeongchang. In between, dross, including a 13th, 16th, 19th and even 23rd.
The skeleton squad was immediately quick here, kicking up a swirl of controversy over the space-age skin suits. The governing body liked it. That’s all that mattered. Yarnold paid little attention anyway. There is no choke in this girl. Once that helmet goes on she sees only the ice before her.
“I’m an athlete that can perform on big stages. Even though World Cup results are up and down, that’s when I bring the performance,” she said. As a result, here she is, a double gold medalist who knits. Not many of those to the pound. “I am only doing strips because I cannot do patterns, it is too complicated. For years I have just been doing strips and putting them aside. I woke up very early – not sleeping very well at the moment – and I did not know what else to do other than Netflix and chill, and to be knitting. “I remember knitting when Amy Williams was on in the World Cup in 2011. The only thing I could do was watch the race on my laptop and sit there knitting. My nan taught me how to knit and she passed away a few years ago and it is something I can do and feel connected to her.”
So what next after the daytime TV sofa circuit and the school visits? Will she be back for a third crack? “I feel very motivated today as I did four years ago. I feel that I can jump back on the sled,” she said. “I’d recommend any athlete to take a break. It’s a fouryear cycle and, even though it’s tempting and you’re desperate to carry on, it’s a long time to be at your best.
“As athletes we don’t allow ourselves to be ill or injured. Being human you need to have ups and downs. Having time off now is really important. I’ll take a good break and get back to you.
“I did a skydive a couple of years ago and it was an amazing feeling of freedom. It’s quite similar to the skeleton. You’re on your way and not a lot you can do for it, hold on and hope for the best.”
As if. Modest to the last. Remarkably, there are some out there bemoaning the £6.5 million in lottery cash per Olympic cycle that ultimately funds golden moments like this. Their argument rests on the sport’s relative inaccessibility. As you might expect, Yarnold has the answer for this, too. And that is participation in any sport, just get out there and do stuff. And when the time is right, do as she did and try out for skeleton through the British talent ID programme. You might not