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Great Britain’s women’s curling team began their Winter Olympics journey with an impressive 7-6 victory over the reigning world champions, Canada. Following disappointing losses to China and South Korea in their initial games, few expected skip Rebecca Morrison’s rink to rebound against such formidable opponents. Yet, the British squad elevated their performance, with Morrison delivering the crucial shots that had eluded her in earlier matches. Canada appeared vulnerable, likely affected by their recent defeat to the United States.
“It just feels absolutely amazing to go out there and get our first win,” said Team GB skip Sophie Jackson. She praised her teammate’s outstanding form, adding, “Becca played absolutely fantastically – we all did – but it’s great to see Becca when she’s like that and I’m sure she’ll be on a roll now.”
Meanwhile, the British men’s curling team also secured a win on Saturday, bouncing back from a loss to Italy by defeating the Czech Republic 7-4. Despite some dazzling shots from Czech skip Lukas Klima, Bruce Mouat’s rink held firm and recorded their third victory in four games. This success positions them well to qualify for the semifinals.
Mouat commented on the match: “We were in control but we couldn’t really get away. We just had to stick with it and we felt pretty comfortable.” With six wins out of nine expected to be enough to reach the semifinals, both the men and women’s teams face critical matches ahead. The men are set to compete against Germany and Switzerland, while the women aim to build on their revival when they face Sweden.
In skeleton racing, British athletes Tabby Stoecker, Freya Tarbit, and Amelia Coltman all finished within the top 10 but fell short of earning medals. Although inspired by compatriot Matt Weston’s historic gold medal the day before, the trio’s inconsistent runs across four heats hampered their chances. Stoecker, who had been among Great Britain’s strongest medal hopefuls, placed highest in fifth with a total time of 3:50.48. Tarbit and Coltman followed in seventh and ninth positions, respectively.
All three athletes made their Olympic debuts, marking the first time that Team GB has qualified three women in the Olympic skeleton event. Austria’s Janine Flock took gold after four smooth runs, while Germans Susanne Kreher and Jacqueline Pfeifer claimed silver and bronze. Flock’s victory was particularly notable given Austria’s lack of previous women’s Olympic skeleton medals and her past near misses at earlier Games. Team GB now looks ahead to Sunday’s mixed team skeleton event, a new addition to the Olympics.
In short track speed skating, Niall Treacy reached his first Olympic final in the men’s 1500m but was penalised after a crash caused by an illegal move on his part, which also took out China’s Sun Long. Treacy, 25, had won his semi-final and was in medal contention, a milestone that could have marked Britain’s first Olympic podium in the sport since 1994. He is the sole British short track competitor at these Games and is scheduled to return to compete in the 500m event on Monday.
Turning to freestyle skiing, Kirsty Muir comfortably qualified for the big air final with a combined score of 166.50 from her top two runs. Just days after narrowly missing a bronze in slopestyle by 0.41 points, the 21-year-old demonstrated her resilience and skill in the qualifiers, securing fourth place overall. Canada’s Megan Oldham led the qualifier, followed by China’s defending Olympic champion Eileen Gu and Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud.
Reflecting on her performance, Muir told BBC Sport, “I just wanted to get my runs down and I’m super stoked that I did.” She also commented on her slopestyle finish: “There has been a lot of love. Although it was a fourth and I wanted more, it is still fourth in the world on the Olympic stage.”
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