Britain's curling stones of destiny lies with Scots after taking scenic route to Olympic final

Bruce Mouat and his curlers may well agree after reaching Saturday’s Olympic men’s curling final, where they will take on Canada the hard way.

Then again, perhaps their alpine trek to the business end of the bonspiel is good news. The last two times Great Britain have won curling gold, in 2002 and 2022, they have defied the critics and the odds.

Rhona Martin famously declared her team “dead” only for a set of quirky results to go her way to progress to the knockouts and then her stone of destiny through two play-offs. Four years ago Eve Muirhead went 4-0 down in the first end of her semi-final, with coach David Murdoch later admitting he thought the match was over before it had begun.

Mouat would do well to remind himself of British curling history, having relied on other results falling his way to edge into the semi-finals.

When it comes to the Olympics, it has been proven that British curlers are at their most dangerous when placed in the tightest of spots.

In his second Games appearance, Mouat is aware he needs to improve his record in knockout matches, with defeat in two bronze medal play-offs in the mixed competition and a loss in the 2022 final.

‘We never lost faith’

“We were not quite dead and buried but we were close,” said Hammy McMillan. “We had a slow start but we never lost faith in our ability or our confidence in each other. Now I think we are really close to our A game.

“Bruce must be exhausted. There is probably no athlete at the Games who has been in competitions as long as he has. He is the best shot-maker in the world and what he has done for the last 18 months has been incredible.

“He is very cool, calm and collected but when he nails that big shot, that is when the fist pump and the emotions all come out. It has been a rollercoaster Olympics. We just need to finish on that high now.”

Mouat was the first to admit it has taken him time to find his groove at these Games but momentum is important. Just ask the Swiss rink he brushed aside in the semi-finals. They were unbeaten until they ran into Mouat, McMillan, Grant Hardie and Bobby Lammie.

However, the statistics show clearly that consistency has been improving and the big shots are coming off too, Mouat’s triple take-out against Switzerland laying the foundation for that semi-final win.

“I think that is one of the best shots I have ever played in a pressure-cooker situation,” he added. “To make shots like that in a situation like we were in, it is what you dream of and what I have dreamt of for a long, long time. To be able to do that for myself and for the guys, it felt like this is now our time to go and push forward and win this.”

Canada, where Murdoch is now the director of performance for their national teams, outclassed Mouat’s team in the round-robin stage, winning 9-5.

Murdoch, who guided Great Britain to silver in Sochi, is one of the most approachable figures in curling and Canada’s national psyche is built around the words “nice” and “sorry”. But Brad Jacobs’ rink, most politely described as high intensity, is not the most popular here. Put aside the cheating row and the swearing, they are simply very vocal.

Jacobs also skipped Canada’s so-called buff boys rink at the 2014 Games, known for their tight shirts and gym workouts. Murdoch faced them in the final in Sochi and lost, his British coach Soren Gran making no secret of his dislike for their aggressive style.

They call this the roarin’ game because of the noise the stones make, not the players.

“There is so much history in our sport and a lot of it goes back to Scotland versus Canada,” said Mouat, who beat Jacobs in the semi-final of last year’s World Championships on his way to gold.

“In our first ever world championship final, we played Canada in Canada. Now getting to play an Olympic gold medal match against them is pretty special.

“It is really good for our sport. Canada has a ridiculous number of members who curl. It is always a good game against Brad and the boys.”

Mouat is far too nice a guy to talk up this final, though do not expect the same from Canada, who would win gold with talk alone here in Cortina.

“They are the world champions, the best team in the world and that is the pressure on them,” said Canada coach Paul Webster.

“We love the fact that they are there and we would really love to beat them in the final too. That is our goal. We want to get to the gold medal final and play the best teams.

“We are excited to play Canada versus Great Britain in the Olympic final. I hope Canada plays the US in the men’s hockey final, and we all bring home gold and drink maple syrup together.”

Martin’s gold medal success was famously watched by 5.6 million viewers in 2002. In contrast, Muirhead’s win required fans to stay up into the small hours.

Mouat is aware this final is in primetime and could be part of a Super Saturday, with British freestyle skier Zoe Atkin the top qualifier into her halfpipe final.

“The support here and from home has been immense,” he added. “The nation falls in love with curling at the Olympics. We just need to give them the medal they want.”

TNT Sports on discovery+ will be the go-to destination in the U.K to watch everything of Milano Cortina 2026 live all in one place, with over 850 hours of action from every sport, venue, and medal event.’