Once upon a time, we decided who the national, or world, champions were at curling by assembling say, 8 (in Scotland) or 11 (in Canada) teams that represented a geographical spread of where they played, and then complete a league where everyone plays everyone. If you were top of the league, you were the champion. If there was a tie, you kept playing whole games of curling until the tie was broken.  Simple. And also, true.  Did anyone suggest that after Matt Baldwin won 10 games to nil in 1957 that he should play another couple of games against teams he had already beaten, before he was declared champion? No, it was not televised.

I note that Yannick Schwallier won nine straight at the Olympics in a field so strong that would seem almost impossible.  That would be all I require to give them the gold medal. That methodology certainly identifies the best team, but not the best television. The woman’s competition delivered a different, but to my mind just as neat a solution. With one round left to play in the league, nobody could match Anna Hasselborg’s 7/2 score.   That’s enough for me. Give them the gold, and let them watch the fight for silver.

The Olympic games is about show business, not sport.  I just can’t get my head round that. Happy to have missed the games, and won’t watch Bruce and Brad this evening.