Winter Olympics curling final as it happened: Team GB suffer agonising defeat as Sweden claim gold

ByDesmond Kane

Updated 20/02/2022 at 00:10 GMT

Team GB chased glory on Saturday at the Winter Olympics in the curling final. The men’s curling team faced Sweden in the gold-medal match, the nation they narrowly beat 7-6 in the round-robin stage. But it was not to be for Bruce Mouat and his rink as they lost in agonising fashion to miss out on Winter Olympic gold. However, a silver was GB's first of the Beijing 2022 Games.

'Absolutely fantastic' - Team GB celebrate reaching curling final after win over USA

The men’s curling final at the Winter Olympics saw Team GB take on Sweden at the Beijing National Aquatics centre.

Bruce Mouat and his team had a guaranteed silver at worst but were challenging for GB’s first gold of the Games.

The women’s team led by Eve Muirhead are also in the final, which is at 1am on Sunday.

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Relive the final here:

Great Britain 4-5 Sweden: Sweden win Olympic gold!

"Right now it hurts," says Team GB's Bobby Lammie after being forced to accept a silver medal from a superb week of curling.

So near, yet so far for Bruce Mouat's men. They faced an inspired Swedish team led by a brilliant skip in Niklas Edin, who was appearing at his fourth Olympic Games.

At the age of 36, Edin finally has Olympic gold to go with his five world and seven European golds.

Great Britain 4-5 Sweden: Sweden win Olympic gold!

That is such a tough one to take for Team GB. Fought so hard, but ultimately having the hammer in the extra end was key to Swedish victory.

The world champions become the Olympic champions.

That 98-year wait for men's curling gold continues for another four years.

Curling final 1st Extra End: Great Britain 4-5 Sweden

Edin makes a mistake. Short of pace with his penultimate stone. Just makes the house.

Mouat has a chance, but it is a small window of opportunity. Tries to come off a yellow to move the counting red, but it narrowly fails.

And Sweden are the Olympic champions! No need to play the final stone.

This match is over.

1st Extra End: Great Britain 4-4 Sweden

Another guard from skip Bruce to protect the yellow in the house with his penultimate stone.

What does Edin do in response? GB hoping for one mistake from the Swedish skip.

1st Extra End: Great Britain 4-4 Sweden

Having the hammer is like enjoying the first throw in a leg of darts.

At this tense stage of the gold medal match, having the final stone is such a key advantage.

GB take a time-out to work out the permutations before the two skip stones.

Sweden lie one with GB just outside the four foot.

Coach departs the scene and GB must make their final call.

1st Extra End: Great Britain 4-4 Sweden

Sweden trying to keep the house clear so they have a clear run to the winning post..one Swedish stone holding advantage at the moment.

10th End: Great Britain 4-4 Sweden

Calm finish by Bruce Mouat to ensure we go to the first extra end. We are level at 4-4. Gets the pace just right and the stone is right on the button, but Sweden will have the hammer here.

10th End: Great Britain 3-4 Sweden

Edin takes out the GB counter with a lovely shot.

What a cool head to produce that under the circumstances.

Skip Bruce drops in his penultimate stone to lie shot again.

Edin will attempt to wallop that yellow out of the house.

Which he does. The yellow is removed.

GB need to score here otherwise the match is over..

Curling final 10th End: Great Britain 3-4 Sweden

Hardie tries to hit and roll in between two Swedish reds.

And he has managed to pull off a brilliant shot to lie shot behind the two Swedish stones.

Well, that has really changed the direction of travel as we head for the two final skip stones.

Curling final 10th End: Great Britain 3-4 Sweden

Wrana wipes out two yellow stones for Sweden. How does Lammie respond?

Finds a decent blocking stone in front of the scoring red.

But a yellow is knocked out of the house.

Sweden with three scoring reds in the house.

Three stones remaining for GB.

All very tense in these closing moments as GB take a time-out.

Curling final 10th End: Great Britain 3-4 Sweden

Hammy McMillan bidding to give GB the platform for victory at the outset of this end.

Sweden immediately pepper the button with two reds, but they won't stay there for long.

Five stones each remaining in this end.

GB not in the worst position despite Sweden lying two in the house.

Curling final 9th End: Great Britain 3-4 Sweden

So here we go then...

Bruce opts against taking one. Blanked ninth end.

We are into the 10th and final end.

GB chase two shots for gold with the hammer in the final end.

This is a glorious chance for Team Mouat. All or nothing as Team GB bid to end a 98-year wait for Olympic curling gold.

Curling final 9th End: Great Britain 3-4 Sweden

Swedish guards being destroyed as quickly as they are put up.

Doesn't look like there is going to be a blank end for GB, but that can quickly change.

Sweden lie two just outside the four foot.

Hardie with a magical shot under pressure to wipe out two Swedish stones.

Under the hammer, he came up with the goods.

And this could be blank for GB heading for the 10th. Which would not be the worst outcome.

9th End: Great Britain 3-4 Sweden

Do GB try to blank this end? Or go for their two here?

GB lying one almost on the button with five stones remaining. Decisions, decisions.

Lammie takes out a Swedish guard. GB look to be in a healthy position in this end.

Sweden don't want to blank this end, GB seeking at least two shots.

All on the line for gold in these closing moments of the final.

8th End: Great Britain 3-4 Sweden

Edin takes out one GB stone, but another one remains in the house.

Swedes suddenly losing control of this end.

Happy to blank the end, but that won't happen.

They will be forced to take one.

Which will not disturb GB.

Swede restore one-shot lead. GB with the hammer in the ninth end.

Crucial closing two ends coming up.

8th End: Great Britain 3-3 Sweden

The narrative of this match is suddenly altering.

Sweden had control and momentum, but there is a distinct mood change.

GB's patience and refusal to panic has enabled them to recover ground at the key time of the contest.

Wrana with a few wrecking ball stones to rid his team of the blockers, but won't overly trouble GB.

Are Sweden trying to blank this end?

7th End: Great Britain 3-3 Sweden

Steal for GB! Team Mouat restore parity at 3-3.

Edin tries a five-stone plant that Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins wouldn't have attempted in his pomp. Comes to nothing.

That yellow stone had more protection than a moat outside a castle.

And Mouat's men well in the hunt with three ends remaining.

Sweden have the hammer in the eighth, but better to be level with Sweden's four red stones counting for nothing in the house.

7th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

Final stone to come from Edin....GB in for one at the moment...

7th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

Skip Bruce needed an inch-perfect guard and he seems to have got it.

That looks like a solid blocker.

Swedes again discussing the merits of the final skip stones.

Edin down one end of the rink and back to the other.

Would dearly love to take out the yellow counter and leave the Swedes in full bloom.

Takes out the yellow guard, but fails to trouble the GB scoring stone.

7th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

Like the Postman on his early morning rounds, Hardie delivers.

Brilliant from GB under so much pressure.

Through the eye of a needle he finds a stone that lands on the button.

GB lie shot from nowhere.

Sweden being dragged into a scrap in this end.

Three red stones surround the scoring yellow stone, but GB in the hunt for a steal.

7th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

GB throwing down two guards with Swedes placing two in the house.

Imagine Wrana will be licking his lips about the prospect of reducing those to rubble soon.

For once, he opts to nudge out a yellow stone in the house.

Three red stones inside the eight foot, but Lammie comes up short.

Dangerous times for GB as Wrana's second stone joins the party around the bull's eye.

Grant Hardie responds by ridding the house of two Swedish stones.

6th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

Another blanked end. Sweden lead 3-2 and the hammer stays with them for the seventh.

Not exactly curling for the purists, but Swedes creeping towards the winning line with four ends remaining.

6th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

Swedes making their mark early in the sixth.

Wrana takes out one GB guard, but Swedes lie two shots.

That will obviously change as the end develops.

And does with one Swede stone disappearing into the ether.

No need for GB to panic at this point, but again would not wish to be giving up more than one shot the way this final is developing.

Wrana manages to slam out three GB stones with his second stone.

Sweden again lie shot.

Both teams trading stones at the moment with house again lying derelict.

6th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

Five ends to go, one shot the difference. All to play for. And you can enjoy all the action LIVE on Eurosport.

5th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

Solid game management from the Swedes.

It is a blank end as Edin obliterates the counting Mouat stone.

A 3-2 lead for the world champions against the European champions.

Sweden will return with the hammer for the sixth end and second half of this fascinating joust.

5th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

A heavyweight stone from Rasmus Wrana to clear out the house.

That was a blistering weight with the stone racing away from the sweepers.

All going for Sweden at the moment.

Just knocking out stones for fun. The house is empty with three stones remaining of the fifth.

Ideally, GB don't want to give up more than one here.

4th End: Great Britain 2-3 Sweden

The measure comes out and it is shot for GB!

Well, that was frantic, but back to 3-2 behind as we approach the halfway stage of the match.

Sweden looked set for another steal, but Bruce's final stone was superbly swept into the house.

Just negated the Swedish stone inside the four foot.

Both teams couldn't settle the debate so the measuring instrument did it for them.

GB hanging tough against a very slick Swedish side, who have the hammer in the fifth end.

4th End: Great Britain 1-3 Sweden

Niklas Edin is delivering the goods for the Swedes ably supported by Oskar Eriksson.

Some intricate shots being played.

GB again in a bit of a pickle with the final skip stones to come.

Swedes again lie shot at the business end of the end.

Another steal here could be a game-changer as Edin throws down a guard.

4th End: Great Britain 1-3 Sweden

It feels like everybody is transfixed by this curling final.

4th End: Great Britain 1-3 Sweden

It must be said, the Swedes have made a vibrant start to this final.

Highly impressive from the world champions to gain the early advantage.

But GB hold two in this end with Grant Hardie unearthing a fine delivery to leave the Swedes deep in conversation.

3rd End: Great Britain 1-3 Sweden

Magic from Mouat, but Edin is up for the challenge.

GB skip uses his stone to clear out two red stones via the Swedish guard, but Edin responds with a fabulous shot of his own to rid the house of the scoring GB stones.

Sweden looking to lie at least one before GB's final stone of the third end.

Tricky shot coming up with Sweden lying shot. And he can't tap out the Swedish stone.

A steal for the Swedes! They take one against the head to lead 3-1.

3rd End: Great Britain 1-2 Sweden

Swedes lie one on the button, but GB peppering the four foot with three yellow stones.

Edin to have his say with the penultimate stone of the end after chatting to team-mate Oskar Eriksson.

Bit short of pace.

GB skip Bruce involved in a bit of chess game on this end before he eases his two stones into the house.

3rd End: Great Britain 1-2 Sweden

Fans already reaching fever pitch in GB and we have not reached 8am in the morning. Long day ahead.

3rd End: Great Britain 1-2 Sweden

Bobby Lammie nudges a yellow stone into the house as GB lie two early in the third end.

Sweden take one GB stone out seconds later before Lammie does likewise with his second stone.

GB again lie two with four stones of the end remaining.

2nd End: Great Britain 1-2 Sweden

Edin just taps out the GB stone with minimal fuss.

Two for the Swedes.

The sweepers not even needed as the stone just arrives on the nose like a ship calmly docking in port.

A 2-1 lead for the world champions.

Warming up nicely in the Ice Cube.

2nd End: Great Britain 1-0 Sweden

Back down to the skip stones.

Plenty of clearing out has gone on from both teams in this end.

Mouat lies shot with his penultimate stone, but the Swedes have another in the house on the 12 foot.

So looking like this is going to be a two-shot swing for the Swedes on this end as GB are again wiped out.

Not much Bruce can do about this you suspect.

2nd End: Great Britain 1-0 Sweden

Remember this final is contested over 10 ends. Could run for three hours. Or more if we are forced to an extra end.

Something tells me this won't be for the faint-hearted.

GB seem to have the crowd gathered in the Ice Cube behind them.

Sweden have two in the house with five stones of this end remaining.

1st End: Great Britain 1-0 Sweden

No heroics from Bruce. When you have the hammer, you have to put it down.

The GB skip slides one on the button to negate the two Swedish stones and take the one shot.

Would have preferred the two, but a 1-0 lead for Team GB.

Proficient start.

1st End: Great Britain 0-0 Sweden

GB are suddenly lying one before the skip stones of this first end.

Swedish skip Niklas Edin uses his first stone of the day to clear out GB and lie two again before Mouat lands one on the nose as GB hold shot.

More twists and turns than the curling stones they are releasing.

1st End: Great Britain 0-0 Sweden

Swedes lying three early on in this first end, but plenty of time to clear that out.

They'll be hoping for a faster start than the GB women yesterday who managed to ship four in the opening end in a disastrous start to the day.

Nice to settle into this final without having to play catch-up.

GB have the hammer

GB's first yellow stone makes its way past the first Swedish stone guarding the house.

GB have the hammer in this first end because they had the superior record in qualifying.

Could be crucial if it reaches a tenth end.

The equivalent of throwing first in a leg of darts. Or serving for a tennis title.

Of course, long way to go before we reach that juncture.

Team GB are in the house

Boys walk out to the sound of the bagpipes in the Ice Cube in Beijing.

Opportunity knocks for skip Bruce Mouat, Hammy McMillan, Bobby Lammie and Grant Hardie out there.

They look as cool as the ice they are walking on. Almost ready to go.

The road to the final

GB enjoyed a narrow 7-6 win over Sweden in the round-robin stage. They would love to emulate that victory when it matters most.

They won eight and lost just one of their matches in reaching the pinnacle of curling, but atoned for the one defeat – a 9-7 loss to the USA – in usurping the talented Americans 6-4 in the semi-finals.

Great Britain 7-5 Italy
Great Britain 7-9 USA
Great Britain 8-3 Norway
Great Britain 7-6 China
Great Britain 8-2 Denmark
Great Britain 6-5 Switzerland
Great Britain 7-6 Sweden
Great Britain 8-6 ROC
Great Britain 5-2 Canada

The inspiration

The lads just need to look at Eve Muirhead and her team's thrilling victory in their semi-final against Sweden, the defending Olympic champions, in their semi-final from 4-0 behind in the last four on Friday to see what can be achieved.

Or Rhona Martin's iconic 'stone of destiny' 20 years ago in Salt Lake as the GB women's team claimed a remarkable gold with a 4-3 win over Switzerland with the final stone of the event.

It is all in front of the GB boys this morning. Literally.

GB bid to end 98 years of hurt

The last time a GB men's team claimed curling gold was in France in 1924. Time for Team Mouat to rectify that record this morning.

Gold – 1924 Chamonix
Silver – 2014 Sochi
Bronze – N/A
Fourth – 2006 Turin
Fifth – 2018 Pyeongchang, 2010 Vancouver, 1992 Albertville
Seventh – 2002 Salt Lake City, 1998 Nagano
Eighth – 1988 Calgary

Where to watch the action

We've got you covered all morning, afternoon or evening wherever you are in the world watching this epic battle.

A golden good morning

Hope you have cuppa in hand as we cheer on four Scottish blokes bidding to bring home the gold for Team GB against Sweden at the Ice Cube in Beijing.

We'll be ready to go at 6:50am GMT. What a few hours these could be. And what a weekend lies ahead with the women's team meeting Japan in the women's grand showpiece in the early hours of Sunday in the gold-medal match after a dramatic 12-11 victory over Sweden on Friday on the first extra end.

A good omen perhaps?

Here is the GB men's team for this morning's action.

Bruce Mouat (skip)
Grant Hardie (third, vice-skip)
Bobby Lammie (second)
Hammy McMillan Jr (lead)

One Olympian from Edinburgh, one from Dundee and two from Stranraer are one win away from claiming sporting immortality.

"They are in great shape, they are a crack team," says Nigel Holl, the GB performance director. "Full confidence in them."

Scene setter

Concerns that Great Britain would leave the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 without a medal were brought to an end when Bruce Mouat and his team beat USA 8-4 in their semi-final on Thursday. They now face Sweden in the final.

The final starts at 06:50 GMT on Saturday morning. However, coverage starts at 06:30 GMT on Eurosport 2 and discovery+. Watch every event live from Beijing 2022 across Eurosport, the Eurosport app and discovery+. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now.

Team GB are now chasing two golds after Eve Muirhead led the women's curlers to recover from 4-0 down at the end of the first end to beat Sweden 12-11 after an extra end in a remarkable and thrilling match to set up a gold-medal match against Japan. That final starts on 01:05 on Sunday.

Team GB men’s curling results at Beijing 2022

GB won eight and lost just one of their matches in the round-robin stage, but made up for that 9-7 loss to USA when beating the Americans 8-4 in the semi-final.

Sweden, meanwhile, won seven and lost just two round-robin games – to GB and Switzerland in their final two encounters. They then beat Canada 5-3 in the semis.

ROUND ROBIN