'Gutted' curlers left to rue what could have been at Winter Olympics

Of the near-misses Team GB have suffered at these Winter Olympics, this will hurt the most.

Bruce Moaut and Jen Dodds flew through the mixed doubles curling group stage and were heavy favourites for a gold medal that would have banished the pain of finishing fourth in Beijing four years ago.

Instead, history cruelly repeated itself in Cortina as the Edinburgh pair fell to a 5-3 defeat to Italy in the bronze medal match.

It was another disappointing day for Scottish curlers Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds. | Getty Images

It means Team GB remain without a medal at these Games, despite high hopes in freestyle skiing and snowboarding, and the chef de mission Eve Muirhead has already issued a rallying cry to the squad.

“I am really positive and we have a long way to go,” the Beijing curling gold medallist said. “We need to start building a lot of momentum and I think we definitely can do that. We always speak about winter sports and how it comes down to absolutely nothing and I think the last couple of days has been a prime example. We have to stay positive.”

UK Sport set Team GB a medal target of between four and eight, and though that is still within their sights, they will be desperate to get off the mark after an irritating start. They have already matched their record number of fourth-place finishes, with the curlers following freestyle skiing’s Kirsty Muir and snowboarder Mia Brookes.

They could well break that record at the figure skating tonight, with Lilah Fear and Prestwick’s Lewis Gibson starting the decisive free dance one spot off the podium. There are several opportunities to come, not least at the sliding arena where world champion Matt Weston is the heavy favourite for gold on Friday.

Tabby Stoecker has also been flying in practice ahead of the women’s event, while Mouat leads a men’s curling team that are hoping to improve on silver from four years ago. However, he has just 24 hours to process his and Dodds’ latest near-miss before the team event begins.

Emotional defeat for the curlers

They were blown away by Sweden in the semi-final and always on the back foot against host nation Italy in the bronze final. Mouat is back in action on Wednesday night as the men begin their campaign against China.

“We’re gutted,” an emotional Mouat said. “I can't really believe that we're coming away with nothing again after such a good week. We played a lot better week than we did in Beijing, so to again not come away with something is fairly disappointing. We spoke really well last night we had a very good conversation about just how proud we are making it this far again.”

Dodds is part of the women’s team that are defending champions after Muirhead led them to the title four years ago. But, a very different side, they are considered outsiders for a medal this year. “We'll chat about things tonight, probably be upset and then regroup,” she said.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Inverurie’s Anna Pryce finished 32nd in the cross-country sprint qualification, failing to progress to the latter stages.

Meanwhile, in perhaps the story of the day, Norwegian biathlete Johan Olav Botn pointed to the heavens and emotionally dedicated his Olympic gold to his closest friend.

Just two days before Christmas, Botn found the lifeless body of his best friend and team-mate, Sivert Guttorm Bakken, in his hotel room at their Italian training base.

Bakken, who had previously been diagnosed with a heart condition, was wearing an altitude simulation mask, which the team confirmed was not part of their training programme. The elevation training mask, known by the acronym ETM, is a device that is becoming increasingly popular among endurance athletes, as it allows them to significantly reduce oxygen flow to the mouth.

Lilah Fear and partner Lewis Gibson of Team Great Britain compete in Ice Dance - Rhythm Dance Qualification. | Getty Images

“The emotions were that I was racing with him the entire last loop,” said Botn, who shouted, “Yes Sivert, we did it,” as he crossed the line in the men's 20km event after a flawless display of clean shooting.”

Wednesday’s British hopes lie at the figure skating, where Fear and Gibson are Britain’s strongest medal hope since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won bronze 32 years ago. But despite the polished smiles, the disappointment was impossible to hide after Monday night’s rhythm dance.

Coming into the Games, ice dance was widely viewed as a two-horse race for gold between France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron and Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates. That left Fear and Gibson battling to be 'best of the rest' in a three-way scrap for bronze with Italy’s Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri and Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

After the rhythm dance, that is exactly how it stands. Less than two points separate third from fifth, with the British pair wedged agonisingly between their rivals. “It felt even better than the team event — and the team event felt so good,” said Fear. “I thought, ‘How can we top that?’”

Fear and Gibson’s season-best free dance score of 126.26 narrowly edges their rivals, but if the more consistent Canadians repeat their best, Britain would sit just 0.20 points outside the podium.

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