Gold at last for Team GB thanks to Eve Muirhead's women's curling team
After silver for Bruce Mouat's men on Saturday, Muirhead's rink dominated Japan 10-3 to take the nation's first curling gold since Salt Lake City 2002.
It was a long time coming, but Team GB's gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games was worth the wait.
Eve Muirhead's women's curling rink outplayed Japan on Sunday (20 February) as she upgraded her bronze from Sochi 2014.
The Scottish foursome of Muirhead, vice-skip Vicky Wright, lead Hailey Duff and second Jen Dodds led 4-1 going into the midway break after five ends.
The skip then broke the game wide open with two superb shots in the seventh for a score of four and a healthy 8-2 advantage.
And when a Muirhead double made it 10-3 after nine ends, Fujisawa Satsuki's rink conceded to give Britain its first curling gold since Rhona Howie, then known as Rhona Martin, skipped the women to glory at Salt Lake City 2002.
"It feels bizarre, to be honest," said Muirhead. "To think it was 20 years ago when Rhona Martin made history in Great Britain by winning that gold medal. We’ve followed in her footsteps and done it 20 years later. It’s incredible, it really is.
"What a performance out there today. We saved our best game till last. It’s been a long time coming and I think for us as a team we’ve worked so hard to get here. I’m just so proud of them all."
Also on Sunday, Brad Hall's four-man bobsleigh crew finished in sixth place as Germany's Francesco Friedrich retained his title.
On Saturday, Bruce Mouat's men's curling team won Britain's only other medal in Beijing, claiming silver after going down 5-4 in a thrilling contest with Sweden.
Earlier in the Games, Team GB just missed out on the medals in mixed doubles curling when Mouat and Dodds went down 9-3 to Sweden in their bronze medal match last Wednesday.
Also that day, reigning world snowboard cross champion Charlotte Bankes - seen as a genuine gold medal prospect - failed to make it out of the quarter-finals.
A week later, slalom skier Dave Ryding was unable to repeat last month's Kitzbuehel heroics as a mistake left him down in 16th after the first run before he eventually finished 13th.
But the curlers made sure Team GB avoided a repeat of Albertville 1992 when they failed to bring home a medal.
Men's curling silver for Team Mouat
Team Mouat guaranteed Team GB its first medal of Beijing 2022, but eventually had to settle for silver after a tense 5-4 extra-end defeat to Sweden.
In what was a tight match throughout, the Scots trailed 4-3 going into the 10th end.
Despite pressure from lead Hammy McMillan Jr, second Bobby Lammie and vice-skip Grant Hardie - Sweden did not offer the chance of a multiple-point score.
Mouat drew for a single to take the match into an extra end with Sweden having the hammer advantage.
Niklas Edin's men made sure there would be little chance of a steal, and Mouat was forced into a difficult hit-and-roll which just missed its intended target and left Sweden lying one.
That prompted the concession with five-time world champion Edin able to celebrate his first Olympic title without delivering his final stone.
Mouat admitted to "mixed emotions" afterwards but said, "I'm incredibly proud of my team. I wish the result could have been a little bit different. I'm just proud of how we played all the way to the end.
"I'm very happy we were able to get Team GB their medal. It's been a really good team atmosphere in our village. I've had messages from other athletes in Team GB which is really nice."
The Edinburgh-based rink won eight games in a row to make the final, including an 8-4 win over defending Olympic champions USA in the semi-finals.
Mouat matched David Murdoch's silver at Sochi 2014, but Sweden proved just too strong in the final.