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In Beijing, curling has been one event where Britain has been able to shine in an otherwise disappointing Games for the country.
On Sunday, the women’s team delivered the country’s only gold medal at the Games, defeating Japan, 10-3. That followed the men’s team’s winning silver on Saturday, after losing to Sweden, 5-4, giving Britain its first medal in the Games.
The women’s game was a rematch of the bronze medal game from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. In that contest, the Japanese beat the British, 5-3.
The British team had advanced to the gold medal game after beating Sweden by a single point in the semifinal game on Friday. (Sweden went on to win the bronze.)
The British women’s team won silver at the 2014 Sochi Games and gold at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Japan had won six out of 10 matches in Beijing, clinching an 8-6 victory over Switzerland on Friday to advance to the gold medal game.
This British team — Eve Muirhead, Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff — was pulled together in November for a last-ditch Olympic qualifier after failing to get in at the world championships in Calgary, Canada.
“It’s definitely been a roller coaster journey for the whole team,” Muirhead said after the match. “From Calgary last year in the world championships, not finishing in that top six, then we came back and it was hard.”
“There were those days,’’ she added, “I just wanted to throw my shoes in the cupboard and not take them out again.”
Wright is a nurse treating Covid-19 patients, and expected to be back at work next week. She said she could not imagine winning.
“If you told me two years ago, I would have not believed you,’’ she said. “And here we are, and I can’t believe it.”
Japan’s strong showing reflects growing interest in and development of the sport in East Asia.
In Japan, curlers are celebrities and their cries of “sodanee,” or “OK,” across the curling rink have become a buzzword. Their snacking habits were once national news.
In South Korea, the number of viewers watching curling on television has soared and the “Garlic Girls” became fixtures at the last two Games. They were knocked out of the round-robin session of the Olympic tournament on Thursday by Sweden.
And in China, the government has hired a three-time world champion to coach its curling teams. In parts of the country, amateur curlers are pushing high-pressure cooking pots and woks on outdoor ice, sweeping do-it-yourself rocks with regular brooms.
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