Hammy McMillan struggled to accept silver but takes positives from curling final

Hammy McMillan admitted he could hardly bear to look at his Olympic silver medal on Saturday night after falling short of the ultimate prize in the men’s curling final.

The British side of McMillan, skip Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie and Bobby Lammie saw the match against Canada slip from their grasp when conceding a costly three points in the penultimate end, a blow from which they could not recover as they were defeated 9-6.

Having taken silver in Beijing four years ago, the crestfallen British players were noticeably upset in the aftermath, but after a few drinks with loved ones and some sleep, McMillan was taking a more positive view of their achievement.

He told the Press Association: “I think it was pure, raw emotion.

“We worked so hard the last few years to get the gold and to come that close, I know myself I let it out and there’s probably some really ugly photos of me on that podium!

“There’s a photo of Kyle (Waddell, alternate) putting his arm around me as I really was struggling to hold it together, but this morning we’re sitting here as two-time Olympic silver medallists, so for us it’s something to be really proud of.”

Of the medal ceremony, he added: “They put it round my neck and I didn’t know what to think.

“I wanted that gold so much, but with it round my neck I didn’t know where to look. I didn’t know anything really, it’s all a bit of a blur.

“We sat in the changing room, we all had a beer and said, ‘let’s go out and enjoy our night’. The time for being sorry for ourselves, we said, ‘let’s park it’.

“All our family and friends have travelled to watch us, they’re here to celebrate and we had an amazing night last night.”

For Mouat it was a second heartbreak at the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium, having faltered at the final hurdle in the mixed doubles competition, finishing fourth with Jennifer Dodds – also the same position they took in Beijing.

McMillan said: “Bruce is incredibly resilient.

“That’s two Winter Games now in a row that unfortunately he’s not come away with a medal in the mixed doubles but his character, how he holds himself, how he is able to put himself back together to focus on the men’s, it’s incredible to see how he does it.

“Bruce has had 22 games of curling (in 18 days), that’s insane.”

The British players will now enjoy a break before competing against, rather than with, each other in the inaugural Rock League, a six-week competition that has six mixed gender regional teams.

Mouat explained: “In April the boys and I all go play in our professional curling league, so we will be competing against each other so that’s pretty exciting.

“We’re in four different franchises out of the six and it’s going to be fun competing against each other rather than as team-mates.”

McMillan intends to bid for gold again “if Bruce wants to keep me” and one man who has no doubt the side can return from this blow is Britain’s 2014 silver medallist David Murdoch.

Having coached his home team in 2022 before taking up the role as high performance director for Curling Canada, Murdoch could empathise with the feelings of Mouat’s rink.

He said: “They’re an amazing team, they’re amazing humans and they’ll be back. They are so good. The Olympics is the toughest field going and the environment is extremely hard to produce your best.

“I know what it feels like and I’ve the greatest sympathy for them but equally I have got the greatest respect for them.

“I do feel it’s tough to get through, but that’s sport at the end of the day. We’re all here fighting for the top of that podium.”