Royal salute for curlers’ polished silver service
THE men’s curling team received the royal seal of approval for winning Britain’s first medal at thewinter Olympics in Beijing.
The four-man team led by skipper Bruce Mouat took the silver medal after losing a tense final against reigning world champions Sweden by 5-4 yesterday morning.
The close battle, which finished tied at 4-4 and was won by Sweden in an extra end, was watched on TVS across the nation and apparently at Buckingham Palace, with the Royal Family tweeting its approval after the result.
The official Twitter account for the Queen and members of her family posted: “Congratulations @Teammouat on your silver medal and bringing home @Teamgb’s first #Beijing2022 medal!
“You should be incredibly proud of your performance this week.”
Former middle distance runner Steve Cram, commentating on the final for the BBC in Beijing, said: “Huge plaudits to the British men.
“It wasn’t quite the gold medal but a sensational silver for Great Britain.”
The men’s team, which also included vice-skip Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy Mcmillan, had finished top of the round-robin tournament with eight wins and just one loss to the United States, which they avenged in the semi-final to face Sweden yesterday.
After the final Mouat, 27, had mixed feelings. He said: “I’m trying to think how great our week was and am proud how we went about it. We topped the table and had a really good semi-final performance so I’m trying to think about the other things apart from that game.
“I do feel proud of myself and my guys. I’m still a bit raw. I don’t know how to describe it.
Hardie, 29, said: “Losing the final is going to sting for a while.”
Lammie, 25, added: “I’m gutted for the boys. We fought back well but couldn’t get over the line. Right now it hurts.”
Britain’s last chance to win gold is when the women’s curlers face Japan in the final in the early hours of today.