Bruce Mouat felt a handful of missed shots in the final two ends proved crucial in Britain’s Olympic men’s curling final defeat at the hands of Canada.
Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan were looking to upgrade the silver medal they won four years ago in Beijing after a bumpy ride to the final, which saw their semi-final qualification hinging on the results of other matches on Thursday morning going their way.
While they eventually defeated Switzerland on Thursday evening in their semi-final, their challenge again faltered in the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium, with a 6-5 advantage ahead of the ninth end eventually resulting in a 9-6 defeat.
The penulitmate end proved particularly costly as Britain conceded three points and while they had the hammer in the final end, they could not capitalise, with a double take out from Mouat good but not quite good enough as Canada stole a point to seal victory.
Mouat said: “I think we put ourselves in a really good position to win the game. It just came down to a few shots in the ninth and 10th – all of us missed one.
“We’re disappointed – very disappointed – but we battled so hard all week just to get here.
“I’m trying to remind myself how much of a fight it was even to win a medal. I’m incredibly proud to be able to say I’m a two-time Olympic medallist.
“When I was five, six, seven years old and dreaming of being an Olympian, I’d have been unbelievably proud of this. That’s what I’ll try to hold on to.”
Mouat now has two Olympic silver medals and he is eager to continue his pursuit of gold.
He said: “I’m 100 per cent continuing. I love the game, I love the sport and I love my team-mates. I’m not done yet.
“We’ll definitely have a debrief. I’d love to play with the guys again, but we haven’t had that conversation as four individuals yet. Personally, I want to continue – and we’ll go from there.”
Hardie admitted he was “heartbroken” after another Olympic near miss, but also pointed to those important missed shots at a key stage.
He said: “We lost that final four years ago, it took us a long time to get over it and find the motivation to go again. We found it and we were so hungry to go and deliver a gold this time and unfortunately it just didn’t quite happen.
“It was really unfortunate timing we delivered a bad end after eight brilliant ends to flip the game and be in the driving seat. That’s going to be a tough one to look back on.
“I’ve loved this nine-year journey with these boys. We’ll go and have a drink tonight and celebrate another Olympic medal, which we’re very proud of. The future’s not on my mind at the moment.”
British coach Greg Drummond still believes Mouat’s rink “are the best in the world” when they are on top form.
He said: “We’re obviously disappointed, we came here to win the event and it’s not quite transpired that way.
“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 A plus the whole week.
“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, because the guys, when they are A plus, they are the best in the world.”
