BRITAIN’S curlers were left in “shock” and on the verge of tears following a second successive Olympic final loss.
Just like four years ago in Beijing, skipper Bruce Mouat, lieutenant Grant Hardie and musclemen Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan Jnr had to contend with silver medals.
Where they had lost to Sweden in Beijing in 2022, this time they were outfoxed by Canada and their master tactician Brad Jacobs.
Lammie, 29, was frustrated with the pivotal ninth end, throwing the yellow cover of his broom onto a nearby sheet.
And in an emotional TV interview, conducted minutes as they went down 9-6 to Canada, two of the four Brits could not fathom how they had just lost that encounter.
Mouat, 31, said: “I am just a bit in shock. We felt like we were probably the better team there.”
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Hardie, 33, said: “We wanted to win it for each other. The pain from four years ago was that much, we thought let’s go and give it another go.
“We gave ourselves the chance. So much good work to try and redeem ourselves but unfortunately we’ve not got there again.”
At the halfway point, the Canadians led 4-3 following five ends of nip-and-tuck curling, with very little between the two sides.
A superb double-takeout by Mouat in the sixth end saw the Brits move 5-4 ahead and that manoeuvre electrified an otherwise dull contest.
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End nine was pivotal, however, because Canada claimed a three to move 8-6 ahead.
And though Britain had the benefit of the hammer in the final end they could not draw level after 160 stones had been launched, losing another point at the end.
The British guys had been trying to win a first Olympic gold since William K Jackson was victorious at the inaugural Games in 1924.
Coach Greg Drummond said: “We’re obviously disappointed we came here to win the event and it’s not quite transpired that way.
“I couldn’t be more prouder of the boys. But in some respect, the game sums up the week a little bit.
“We’ve been very, very close to being ‘A plus’ the whole week. We didn’t piece a ninth end together.
“That was ultimately the moment where we lost control of the game. We had done so much of the hard work early to flip the hammer, take a lead into the ninth.
“Everyone missed a shot in the ninth end. It’s not like it came down to one shot.
“Bruce was left with a very tough one at the end, which was probably about two inches away from being perfect.
“I mean, the guys have played great all week. We’ve lost to a very good team. There’s no question in that. But it’s going to sting for a little while.
“The guys are big enough and bold enough to admit that – it’s elite curling. You don’t get away with back-to-back errors.”
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