Curling - Team Great Britain

Great Britain's women have won two medals in seven attempts at the Olympic Winter Games and had two near-misses.

Kirsty Hay could only watch in the Nagano 1998 semi-final as Canada’s Sandra Schmirler threw her draw for the win. The stone carried and carried but finally stopped just an inch away travelling too far. Schmirler moved on to the final and won gold while Hay’s Great Britain dropped into the bronze medal game, losing 10-6 to Sweden.

Four years later, Rhona Howie (formerly Martin) captured an unexpected gold for Great Britain at Salt Lake City 2002 by defeating Switzerland 4-3 in the final, her winning throw declared the “Stone of Destiny” by an enraptured nation.

Great Britain returned to the podium at Sochi 2014, when Eve Muirhead defeated Switzerland 6-5 in the bronze medal game. Muirhead also had a shot to win bronze at PyeongChang 2018, but her final takeout attempt misfired, handing Japan a 5-3 victory and that nation’s first-ever Olympic curling medal.

Competing as Scotland at the World Championships, the Scots have two championship titles, four runner-up finishes and six bronze medals. Eve Muirhead has represented Scotland at eight of the last 12 championships.

At the European level, Scotland has won four titles, 12 silver and seven bronze. Muirhead won the most recent 2021 European Championship with a 7-4 victory over arch-rival Anna Hasselborg of Sweden.

Great Britain qualified eighth for Beijing 2022 after Muirhead won the first of three places at the 2021 Olympic Qualifying Event. Muirhead had finished in eighth place at the 2021 World Championship in Calgary, forcing her into the OQE.

World Ranking: 8th (46.677 pts)

TEAM MUIRHEAD
A veteran at only age 31, Eve Muirhead has skipped Great Britain at every Olympic competition since her debut at Vancouver 2010. She’s had a slightly different lineup of teammates each time but 2022 marks her first appearance with a new team, recently selected after an unusual “squad system” was implemented by British Curling following the 2021 World Championship. The selection of Muirhead, Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff and alternate Mili Smith came after that lineup performed well at various World Curling Tour events in the fall. The team went on to win the 2021 European title and the first of three Olympic berths available at the OQE.

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse