Eve Muirhead closing in on ‘dream’ of landing elusive Olympic gold

Eve Muirhead overcame almost impossible odds to steer her Great Britain women’s curling team into the Olympic final in Beijing and fulfil an ambition that had threatened to elude her after over a decade at the top of her sport.

Team coach David Murdoch put her chances of salvaging victory at “less than 10 per cent” after shipping four shots in a disastrous opening end to defending Olympic champions Sweden, but they clawed back to clinch a thrilling 12-11 victory in an extra end.

It means Muirhead and her team of Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff have emulated their men’s team counterparts by guaranteeing at least a silver medal in Beijing and they will face Japan for the gold on Sunday.

“I’m not sure it’s really sunk in yet because I’ve got almost every gold medal apart from the Olympic gold medal and it’s always been a dream of mine,” said an emotional Muirhead afterwards.

“Of course there have been times when you doubt whether you’ll be back and get that chance to play for gold. Sometimes you get home and want to throw your shoes in the cupboard and carry on doing something else.

“But we learned a lot from that, we stood up tall and we fought for our spot here. We showed we’ve got so much talent as a team, we’ve got so much drive and fight. It’s an absolute dream come true and I’m pretty speechless to be honest.”

Muirhead’s team rode an extraordinary rollercoaster against the experienced Swedes, appearing doomed to defeat after the first end as they faced the kind of deficit that is considered almost unrecoverable at the elite level of the game.

“To come back from 4-0 down was unbelievable – statistically that was almost gone,” said Murdoch, who steered his men’s team to a silver medal in Sochi in 2014.

“I just told Eve to take one end at a time. She’s a warrior and she’s fought through four Olympics. She got three back in the next end and that gave us a lift, and showed the grit and resilience that Eve and her team have.”

Despite hauling themselves straight back into the match with a three in the second, it was Anna Hasselborg’s Swedes who retained the advantage until the ninth end, when a brilliant draw from Muirhead scored four, erasing a one-point deficit and giving her team an 11-8 advantage going into the final end.

But in yet another dramatic swing, Hasselborg responded brilliantly to score three of her own and force an extra end, which Muirhead kept tight until the Swedish skip came up short, enabling Muirhead to take victory without the burden of what would have been a relatively simple, if pressure-filled last stone.

Sunday will mark the first time a British women’s curling team has contested an Olympic final since Rhona Martin – now Rhona Howie, who is in Beijing commentating for the BBC – sent down her famous ‘Stone of Destiny’ to win the gold medal against Switzerland in 2002.

And Muirhead, a four-time world junior and senior champion and the bronze medallist with a different team in Sochi in 2014, is keenly aware of the weight of history and the attention her exploits are likely to garner back home.

“I’m buzzing to know people are going to be up watching us, and that gives us an extra boost to make everyone proud back in Britain,” added Muirhead.

“I remember 20 years ago staying up to watch Rhona win that gold medal and you dream of doing the same, and I know the other girls did exactly that. Let’s hope we have the whole of Britain behind us, and I can’t wait to head back to Britain on Monday.”

The final against Japan, who like Britain squeaked through the group stage with a 5-4 record only to beat round-robin leaders Switzerland in their semi-final clash, will give Muirhead the chance to avenge her bronze medal defeat to the same team in Pyeongchang four years ago.

Then, the Scot missed a relatively simple last stone to secure a medal and she admitted it has been a disappointment that has lingered on her mind during her often difficult quest to secure at least one more shot at that elusive Olympic final.

“Playing Japan for the bronze medal last time and missing that shot to win, it was hard,” admitted Muirhead.

“It was a moment I wanted to forget but it’s been in my head since then. In a way it’s pleasing that I’ve got a chance to play Japan again for a gold medal and not a bronze medal. We love the Japanese girls, they’re so much fun and to play them in the final is fantastic for the sport.”