Team GB could extend its record-breaking medal streak at the Winter Olympics with more potential golds this weekend.
Britain’s world champion team will go up against Canada in the final of the men’s curling, while freestyle skier Zoe Atkin goes into the women’s halfpipe final at the top of the leaderboard.
Both finals are taking place on Saturday, a week after “Super Sunday” when Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale won gold in the mixed team snowboard cross, before Matt Weston and Tabby Stoecker followed suit in the skeleton.
The Games in Milan and Cortina are already among Britain’s most successful in history. The best medal haul from a Winter Olympics currently stands at five, with only one gold ever being won.
Here’s everything you need to know about the athletes hoping to add to Britain’s medal tally.
(L-R) Freestyle skier Zoe Atkin and curlers Grant Hardie and Bruce Mouat. Pics: AP
The curling
Bruce Mouat’s curling team faced a nail-biting semi-final match against Switzerland before sealing an 8-5 victory to send them into Saturday’s final against Canada.
Already guaranteed at least a silver medal, the team are aiming to go one step further and improve on the silver they won at the last Games in Beijing in 2022.
If they do, they will be the first British men’s curling squad to win gold since 1924.
Team GB in action on the rink. Pic: AP
The team is made up of:
• Bruce Mouat: The skip – essentially the team captain who makes key decisions about strategy and play
• Hammy McMillan Jr: The lead – the person who throws the first two stones
• Bobby Lammie: The second – the person who throws second
• Grant Hardie: The third / vice-skip – the person who throws third and is also vice-captain
• Kyle Waddell: The alternate – the person who replaces an injured player and plays a key role in preparations
The first four also made up the team for the Beijing Games, while Waddell is returning to the Olympic stage for the first time in eight years.
Their route to this year’s final has been tense to say the least. During the round-robin stages, Mouat’s squad squeezed through with five wins and four defeats, and were the underdogs going into the semi-final against the Swiss, who had won all their nine matches.
It was a tight contest, but a point in the sixth end for Britain changed the momentum. Two points in the eighth saw Britain edge in front for the first time, and another two-point score in the 10th sealed the win.
Speaking to Sky News ahead of the final, Ross Whyte, who was part of the silver-medal winning squad in 2022, said the team was doing “amazingly” and should “go out there and play like they normally do” on the weekend.
“They’re a great team, and we have high hopes and are praying that they get it done.”
Britain’s Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie and Hammy McMillan. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Curling rocked by cheating allegations
Team GB now face familiar rivals Canada, led by Brad Jacob, who have been at the centre of cheating allegations that have rocked the sport.
The controversy revolves around claims of “double-touching” curling stones after their release, with the Canadian men’s and women’s team, along with Mouat’s squad, all accused of the infraction.
Team GB will take on Canada in the men’s curling final. Pic: AP
The dispute began during an explosive match between Sweden and Canada, which led to World Curling officials increasing the level of umpiring.
During Team GB’s match against Germany, officials said Bobby Lammie touched a stone after releasing it, leading to it being removed.
Read more on the controversy here.
Women’s halfpipe
Zoe Atkin, 23, has qualified top for the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe final, eclipsing Chinese superstar Eileen Gu, who made history in 2022 as the first freestyle skier to win three medals at a single Olympics.
She earned a mammoth score of 91.50 on her first qualifying run, easily securing her place in the final, while Gu sits in fifth.
Britain’s Zoe Atkin celebrates after qualifying first ahead of Saturday’s halfpipe final. Pic: AP
The discipline involves skiers going from side to side in a U-shaped structure and launching into the air to perform flips, grabs and spins.
Execution and difficulty are all judged, as well as the variety of the tricks.
Atkin in action. Pic: AP
Although having grown up in the US, Atkin is a UK-US dual citizen. Her father, a British national, has previously insisted that Atkin and her sister, fellow freestyle skier and Olympic bronze medallist Izzy Atkin, “grew up on Ribena and Marmite”.
She came into these Games having won the superpipe competition at last month’s Aspen X Games, and admitted she was motivated by the prospect of eclipsing her sister’s Olympic medal colour.
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“There’s definitely a little bit of rivalry between us, and I think that’s more from my side because I’m the little sister,” Atkin said.
“I grew up kind of in her shadow a little bit, and I feel like only now am I making a name for myself. But she is the whole reason I got into skiing, and she has been my biggest role model.
“She’s my best friend, and she would be happy for me, of course, even if I did one-up her.”
