Runback Glory in Olympic Men’s Curling

Great Britain stunned previously unbeaten Switzerland by an inflated 8-5 scoreline to win one of two Olympic men’s fours semifinals at the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium.

The other semifinal saw Canada maintain control of a defensive battle with Norway, with the Brad Jacobs team eventually winning 5-4 in an extra end.

The highlight of the GBR-SUI match was a spectacular 20-foot runback triple from Great Britain skipper Bruce Mouat. The epic blow came in the seventh end, and it saved his team’s bacon, as the Swiss scored only one that end to lead 5-4.

In the CAN-NOR extra end, Jacobs switched up the hits and made a sweet freeze on his first stone to lie two buried. Norwegian skip Magnus Ramsfjell attempted an angle hit and stick on his last stone but didn’t hit the stone thick enough, and Jacobs didn’t have to throw his last stone.

For Canada, skip Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert return to another gold medal final. Jacobs’ won gold at Sochi 2014, while Kennedy and Hebert scored gold with skip Kevin Martin at Vancouver 2010.

Second Brett Gallant won Olympic bronze four years ago with skip Brad Gushue.

Swiss fourth thrower Benoit Schwarz-van Berkel faced a near-impossible angle runback of his own just to tie his semifinal game in the 10th end, but missed.

The Swiss loss is agonizing, and not just given the team’s spotless 9-0 round robin record.

Their opponents just did scrape into the playoffs in fourth-place, with a 5-4 record. After three of those losses to the other semifinal teams, they managed to secure their playoff spot on the final day of the round robin – which also required help from Switzerland, as they had to defeat Italy.

Switzerland, who will face Norway for bronze, are more than familiar with that colour. The nation’s men’s competitors have won bronze at numerous Olympic Games and world championships.

For Canada, skip Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert return to another gold medal final. Jacobs’ won gold at Sochi 2014, while Kennedy and Hebert scored gold with skip Kevin Martin at Vancouver 2010.

The latter duo will also exorcise any demons that remain from PyeongChang 2018, where they missed the podium and finished fourth with skip Kevin Koe.

Second Brett Gallant won Olympic bronze four years ago with skip Brad Gushue.

Statistically, Team GB – which won Olympic silver four years ago in Beijing – holds a major advantage over Jacobs, who has only defeated Mouat twice in his career.

One of those victories, however, came earlier this week in Cortina d’Ampezzo.