Olympic record, but Brit curlers promise more
BRITISH skip Eve Muirhead vowed there is more to come from her record-breaking rink after yesterday’s 12-3 victory over USA in their round-robin match in Sochi.
Britain racked up seven points in the fourth end, thanks to a perfectly-weighted final shot from Muirhead, surpassing the previous Olympic record of six points.
Having lost to Sweden yesterday Britain sit joint-fourth overall, but with gold medal favourites Canada to play this morning, Muirhead feels her team must improve to reach the semi-finals.
“Things aren’t perfect just yet, we can still get better,” said the Scot.
“In major championships we seem to start off slightly slow and get better and better and we can certainly build on that.”
The men’s curling team were fortunate 7-6 winners against Germany, after Felix Schulze made a costly error of judgement on their final stone of the contest.
Meanwhile, the youngest member of Britain’s Winter Olympics squad, 18-year-old Katie Summerhayes, was reduced to tears after finishing seventh in the ski slopestyle final.
The teenager was third in qualifying, but fell on her first run in the final – as did several rivals with warmer temperatures than anticipated softening the snow.
And, despite a successful second run, Summerhayes put her hands down twice and was unable to reach the podium.
“I’m gutted and there’s been tears,” she said. “ I knew if I put my run down I was in with a chance. It’s one of those things.”
In sprint free cross country skiing, Andrew Musgrave bowed out in the quarter-finals, while elder sister Rosamund Musgrave failed to qualify from round one.
David King and Stacey Kemp placed 19th out of 20 pairs in figure skating short program qualifying.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Winter Olympic veteran Chemmy Alcott competes in the downhill skiing, with qualifying starting at 7am British time
The British women’s curlers play Canada at 10am, while the men meet Switzerland at 3pm