My heart just breaks for them – aunt of curlers reacts to silver medal finish

The aunt of two members of Britain’s Olympic men’s curling team has told of her heartbreak after they missed out on a gold medal in the Milano Cortina games.

However, Gail Munro, who manages Stranraer ice rink, said the team’s success has already led to a surge of interest in curling.

Skip Bruce Mouat was “very disappointed” at the team’s defeat at the hands of Canada on Saturday night and has vowed to pursue his dream of a gold medal.

Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan had previously won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics four years ago.

McMillan and Hardie are cousins and hail from Stranraer while Lammie is also from the area.

Ms Munro, who is an aunt to McMillan and Hardie, was awarded an MBE for services to curling in 2024 and is a former champion.

The Stranraer ice rink curling club hosted a watch party on Saturday night, where more than 200 people were cheering on Team Mouat.

Ms Munro told Press Association the mood turned to “deflation” when it became clear the team would not clinch gold this time.

She said: “My heart just breaks for them.

“I’ve been there myself, I don’t know how many times – I lost six Scottish finals before I managed to win one.

“So, I can sympathise, but it’s on a much bigger stage in front of a massive audience.”

Seeing the team in tears after the result “makes them human”, she said.

Ms Munro added: “They have been the ranked number one team for the last four years.

“To go in with anything other than an expectation of gold would have been calling themselves short of what they know that they’re capable of.”

There has already been growing interest in the sport, she said, with the ice rink adding on more adult “try curling” sessions due to surging demand.

Ms Munro said: “I would say the majority of them would be mature with a little bit more time on their hands.

“I think this is one of the problems that we’ve got in sport generally.

“The younger ones who would love to be involved, 20 to 40, their time is just taken up with other things – with life in general – and they don’t have the same disposable time that I had growing up.”