A STONE OF CONTENTION
Odd foul call gives Eve medal hopes big dunt
EVE MUIRHEAD was left fuming after a controversial decision left her Olympic dreams hanging by a thread.
The Scot had taken gold medal favourites Sweden to an extra end when a rare foul was called against the GB skip.
As she delivered her final crucial stone the lights on the handle flashed to indicate she’d not released the stone before the red “hog line”. Muirhead protested her innocence but it was too late, Sweden securing a 8-6 victory with a free shot.
It’s a defeat that leaves her rink with three wins from six and no margin for error in their remaining three group games.
Muirhead said: “It’s the first stone I think I’ve hogged in my life and I guess when it comes at a time like that it’s horrible.
“It’s very tough to take and it’s gutting it finished that way. But it just makes it worse when you see it and it doesn’t look like it is – but it does come down I guess to inches and millimetres.
“We did get the stone tested and it’s fine so there’s nothing we can do. We have to move on.”
But Muirhead later broke her self-enforced Twitter ban to post a picture which she believed showed her releasing the stone in time. Other sports have embraced video technology but despite scores of cameras covering every available angle at these Games curling’s governing body won’t budge.
British team head coach Anthony Zummack said: “The decision has been made and the players signed off on the score, let’s move on.
“Personally I think Eve double touched the stone but there’s no replay rule and speculation is pointless.
“Eve needs to focus on the rest of her games now.”
Muirhead, a bronze medallist four years ago in Sochi, now faces matches against Switzerland, Japan and Canada and can only afford one more defeat to stand a chance of making the play-offs.
The men’s team faced their own minor controversy during a 7-6 defeat of Italy as the extra end was temporarily paused to discuss the fate of a “burnt“stone – one accidentally touched by a member of the opposing team.
GB men’s skip Kyle Smith said: “We asked the umpire what our options were and we thought it was right to leave the stone on.
“I’m pleased with how we handled the situation. It can knock your confidence because it doesn’t happen often.”