What a privilege to tell the story of Great Britain’s curling win

Curling isn’t the first sport you’d pick to captivate the nation, but every Olympic cycle, we all tune in to watch the drama unfold, writes Ben Burrows

‘It is a dream come true for myself, and for the rest of the girls,’ Eve Muirhead said afterwards (PA Wire)

After always doing things the hard way, Eve Muirhead’s first Olympic gold came remarkably easily. Four years on from falling at the final hurdle to miss out on bronze in Pyeongchang, there was no mistake as Great Britain’s women’s curling skip led her team to a first Olympic title since 2002.

Twenty years after Rhona Howie’s famous “Stone of Destiny”, Muirhead’s feat was much more straightforward as her side started the strongest in Sunday’s final and powered away to the finish line, emerging 10-3 victors over Japan in Beijing.

Muirhead, who was the youngest skip to win a curling world title back in 2013, had only a bronze medal from 2014 to show from three trips to the Olympics before this one. But after seeing off defending champions Sweden in a rollercoaster semi-final on Friday, hopes were high that she and the team of Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff would finally break their golden duck this time around.