'Scotland might have heard it' - Bruce Mouat yells in celebration as Team GB guarantee Olympic medal
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Published 17/02/2022 at 18:01 GMT
With the prospect of Team GB leaving Beijing without a medal a very real one as the men's curlers faced the USA in their semi-final, skip Bruce Mouat admits his roar of celebration was "a release of tension and pressure.” They will now face Sweden for the chance to win gold at the Winter Olympics after securing a nail-biting win against the Americans, in a match which came down to the final stone.
'Britain are in the Olympic final' - GB men beat USA in 'terrific' curling semi-final
Team GB will finally take their place on an Olympic podium after a Winter Games which has so far proved fruitless for the British squad in Beijing.
The men’s curling quartet of Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan ensured at least a silver medal after in a tense semi-final to progress to the gold medal match, where they will take on Sweden.
It brings to an end the haunting prospect of Great Britain leaving an Olympics without a medal for the first time since 1992.
Mouat, the skip of the team, was delighted with the win, saying, "It's hard to put it into words. I'm really proud of how we went about this week. We've played amazing to get to this point.
"I think for the reaction that I showed, the scream I did at the end, that was a release of tension and pressure.”
The nail-biting finish saw American skip John Shuster with the hammer in the last end, needing to knock two British yellow stones out of the house. He missed to hand Team GB the win, which sparked emotional celebrations from the triumphant team of Scottish athletes.
After failure to medal in the mixed doubles with Jen Dodds, Mouat has been feeling the pressure, and admits his loud reaction at the end of the match had been building up inside of him.
"The yell that I gave out was that release. I think people back in Scotland might have heard it to be honest. To be so close last week it's been a rollercoaster for me. I'm so happy with how I bounced back from that moment and it was from the support of this lot”, he said.
The four players - who are reigning European champions with Scotland - have been through a lot together, and Mouat is delighted to be alongside them in Beijing, saying, "I'm really happy to be stepping into that gold medal match with these guys next to me."
Fellow Scot Rhona Martin entered the history books in Salt Lake City in 2002 by sliding the final stone as Team GB took gold in the women’s event, and Mouat knows his rink has the chance to emulate that famous victory.
"That's such a big moment for curling back home. We really want to be able to replicate something like that. If we go out and play the game we've played all of this week, we'll be close to being able to have a moment like that”, he said.
As for Hammy McMillan, his guaranteed medal will give him bragging rights at home, after his dad, who has the same name, curled for Team GB at three Winter Games but never found his way to the podium.
"It's always nice to be able to say you've got one up on him. He's still got that world championship medal. But it's about me and these guys standing here now. We set out to be standing here on the podium. We're going to be standing on it definitely, but hopefully top of it come Saturday."
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