BEIJING (AP) 鈥� Twenty years after the 鈥淪tone of Destiny" brought the inaugural women's curling gold medal back to the sport's birthplace, Britain is the Olympic champion once again.
Eve Muirhead led the British to their first curling gold since 2002, pulling away with a four-ender in the seventh on Sunday for a 10-3 victory over Japan. It was the most lopsided women鈥檚 final in Olympic history.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a long time coming,鈥� Muirhead said. 鈥淭o think, it was 20 years ago when Rhona Martin made history in Great Britain by winning that gold medal. We鈥檝e followed in her footsteps and done it 20 years later. It鈥檚 incredible, it really is.鈥�
One day after the British men took silver in a tense, extra-end loss to Sweden, the women led the entire match and essentially clinched it in the seventh when a Japanese miss set up a routine takeout that gave Muirhead's foursome an 8-2 lead.
That brought out out the biggest cheer yet from the British fans in the crowd, including the men鈥檚 silver medalists. Martin was also in the Ice Cube curling venue, providing commentary for the TV broadcast.
Japan could only manage one point in the eighth; when Muirhead tallied two in the ninth, Japanese skip Satsuki Fujisawa slid over to bump fists and concede. Another roar arose from the crowd.
Muirhead, who also won a bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games and finished fourth in 2018 in Pyeongchang, choked back tears on the medal stand as 鈥淕od Save the Queen鈥� played and the British flag was raised.
Joining her on the podium were Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds, Hailey Duff and alternate Mili Smith 鈥� a team that was put together only in November for a last-chance Olympic qualifier after the British stumbled at the world championships and failed to earn a spot there.
It was the second straight medal for the Japanese team of Fujisawa, Chinami Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki and Yurika Yoshida, who were third in Pyeongchang. The Swedish women won bronze on Saturday night, beating Switzerland.
鈥淒espite silver, it is indeed a meaningful medal for Japan,鈥� Suzuki said.
Women鈥檚 curling was a demonstration sport at the 1998 Nagano Games and made its official Olympic debut four years later in Salt Lake City. Martin won the inaugural gold with a last-shot draw to the button, known in Britain 鈥� and especially Scotland, where the sport and all the British curlers were born 鈥� as the 鈥淪tone of Destiny.鈥�
But since then, the country has only made one appearance each on the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 podiums, with Muirhead winning bronze alongside three different teammates in 2014.
鈥淭wenty years ago is a long time ago, right?鈥� said Nigel Holl, the head of the British curling federation. 鈥淲e all remember Rhona鈥檚 performance and that last stone with real fondness. But it鈥檚 about time.鈥�
Both teams in the final had completed the round-robin 鈥� and, they thought, their Olympics 鈥� when Sweden beat South Korea in the final preliminary match to create a three-way tie for the last two playoff spots.
It was settled by the second tiebreaker: the distance from the button in a pregame, two-throw challenge. Britain and Japan finished eighth and ninth in to edge Canada, which was last in the 10-team field.
Japan beat top-seeded Switzerland in the semifinal. The British advanced despite giving Sweden four points in the first end of their playoff game.
鈥淣obody likes to do it the easy way, do they? We thought we did it the tough way鈥� Muirhead said with a laugh. 鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 give up. And I think that shows the incredible strength of this team.鈥�
Britain picked up two points in the first end and led 4-2 in the seventh when Fujisawa attempted a fairly routine hit-and-stick with her last throw that would have left two Japanese stones in the scoring area and made it difficult for Britain to eliminate them both with its last rock.
Fujisawa made the hit but rolled the shooter out of the house. Muirhead easily picked off the lone Japanese rock, leaving four of Britain's on target.
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Jimmy Golen, The Associated Press
