Team GB Wins First Medal At Winter Olympics

Team GB has won its first medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics, securing a silver in the men's curling.

The team faced off against Sweden in the final today, February 19, after beating the US earlier this week. Brian Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan took on the world-champion Swedes, coming after their victory against Canada.

The Swedes likely came into the event today with extra vigour after the nation's women's team lost their semi-final against Eve Muirhead and Team GB after an epic sudden death finale.

While briefly jumping into the lead, Sweden went ahead of Team GB after the second end, extending their grip on the match after the third end as well. However, they soon fought back and managed to even the scores. Alas, in the extra end, the Swedes emerged victorious.

'I’m bitterly disappointed for the guys because they played so well. They maybe started off a little bit slow in the final but it is a final and that’s the way it goes. I’m disappointed for them because they played so well,' David Hardie, father of Grant Hardie, told BBC News after the match.

'They set up this team four years ago with a view to getting gold at the Olympics. They just played so well but it just wasn’t for them today, unfortunately.'

The boys were clearly emotional after the match, with Lammie saying, 'I don't know what to say. Personally I wasn't at my best today. I'm gutted for the boys. I think we fought back well in the second half, gave ourselves position and couldn't quite get over the line. Right now it hurts.'

McMillan added, 'Yeah, we've had a good week. It's not how we wanted to end it, but we'll look back and we'll be proud, but right now it kind of sucks. They started strong, they didn't give us an inch.'

Nevertheless, they still came away with Team GB's first medal. 'Congratulations @TeamMouat on your Silver Medal and bringing home @TeamGB’s first #Beijing2022 medal! You should be incredibly proud of your performance this week,' the Royal Family tweeted.

Tomorrow, Muirhead and Team GB will compete in the women's team's first gold-medal match since 2002, when they face off against Japan. 'Third time lucky. I was desperate for it as these opportunities don’t come around very often. I was so, so proud of these girls. All week we’ve dug so deep. I’m pretty speechless right now. It sounds amazing to say we’re in the Olympic final,' Muirhead said.

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