Bruce Mouat is determined to prevent history from repeating itself at the Winter Olympics and started his bid for team gold in emphatic fashion.
Just over 24 hours after he and Jen Dodds finished fourth in the mixed doubles for the second Olympics in a row, the men’s skip was back on the ice and back to his dominant best.
At the last Games in Beijing, Mouat followed mixed doubles heartache by being narrowly pipped to gold by Sweden in the team event but since then, he and his team of Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan Jr have gone on a tear through the men’s game.
They have won gold at the 2023 and 2025 World Championships, medalled at the last four European Championships and are the undisputed world number ones.
They are the clear team to beat in Cortina and Mouat is adamant he will not let the disappointment of missing out on a medal with Dodds – despite romping through the round-robin stage but falling well short in both the semi-final and bronze medal shoot-out – to lead to another bitter blow here.
Against China, he was outstanding.
Curling needs a steady hand and Mouat’s has been relatively off kilter in these Games so far, but he was excellent here, steering his side to a 9-4 win with an end to spare.
It sets up a mouth-watering match against defending champions Sweden tomorrow. The two sides have played each other more than 20 times since the Beijing final but there will be an extra edge when they meet for the first time under the Olympic rings.
“Honestly, the experience that we had in Beijing has helped a lot,” he said.
“I knew that it was the exact same scenario so it was actually easier for me to deal with it this time around
“But a lot of sleep, a lot of food, a lot of hydration, all the normal stuff that you would want to do.
“I had a really good talk with my sports psychologist and just refreshed, and I’m ready to go again.
“It’s a long time ago since Sweden, but it should be pretty cool to play them on the Olympic ice again.
“We’ve been working really hard at this for the last four years to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. We’ll hopefully see the hard work pay off tomorrow in the game against Sweden.”
This Chinese squad beat Mouat’s crew 6-5 earlier this season but they were no match for them on the biggest stage.
A three-point score for Great Britain in the third end distanced the two teams and China lacked the tactical nous and execution to make amends.
Mouat was notably aggressive and, instead of settling for two points in the seventh, he gambled for three and it paid off. The end was nigh soon after.
Team curling is a slow-burner. There are an more stones, more ends, more players on the ice and more matches before the crescendo of the medal matches.
Saving energy is crucial and Mouat was happy to get off early and head for his bed.
“I am very proud of that performance. I think the boys and I haven’t played a game since mid-January, probably,” he added.
“So it was nice to just feel like we were stepping back onto the ice as if we had played yesterday.
“I’m proud of how everyone performed and how they’re all sliding. They’ve obviously put in a lot of work over the last two weeks that I’ve not been there.
“And I’m proud of myself on how I rebounded after a tough day yesterday.”
It’s a small world, British curling. Hardie and McMillan are cousins, while Hammy’s dad went to the 1992 and 2002 Games.
It’s a tight-knit group and they were determined to ensure their skip was at his best.
“The way he responded today after the disappointment of yesterday was all credit to him,” said Hardie.
“I think he had a 95 per cent plus game there so that’s a good way to forget about yesterday and kick off this week.
“He’s a very resilient guy. In Beijing we had a little bit of work to do to pick him up with it being his first time, but he knows what he needs to do to get ready for today and he did that.”
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