Winter Olympics: Eve Muirhead says curling gold in Beijing a 'dream come true'

It is a dream come true.

Without these girls being so strong, this dream would not have come true, said Muirhead, who was in tears on the podium.

They helped me become a better person and a better curler.

Together we are a very strong unit and I think we proved that today.

A routine surge to victory compared with the twists and turns of the previous rounds, and with the Olympic past, helped the Great Britain team to win the gold medal.

After four defeats from nine in the group stage, Great Britain only made it to the semi-finals thanks to other results going their way and the tiebreak of the draw shot challenge.

In the last four they came through a gripping, stomach-churning match against Sweden - a win third time lucky for Muirhead, who had lost Olympic semi-finals in the past.

Nobody likes to do it the easy way. The 31-year-old said that they thought they would do it the tough way.

We showed a lot of resilience. We are strong and fit. Being physically fit helps you be mentally fit.

It shows that if you are strong at the beginning of a tournament, then you have a good chance at the end.

There were times when you doubted yourself as a team. We never gave up even though we doubted whether you would make the play-offs. I think that the strength of this team is shown by the fact that we didn't give up.

The win is similar to the one secured by Great Britain 20 years ago.

The latest triumph was witnessed by Howie in Beijing, and he credited her former coach and mentor.

It was funny because I was interviewing for a documentary about Rhona's 20-year anniversary when I came here.

I remember saying I would love to follow Rhona's footsteps. I remember watching it and would love to do it again.

To have this moment now and know that I followed in Rhona's footsteps and have this gold medal around my neck is very special.

I cannot thank Rhona enough for everything she has done to help me get here.

After playing in pain for several years and having hip surgery in the summer of 2018, she had not decided if she would return to curling.

Her place in the Olympics is in jeopardy because of Scotland's eighth place finish at the World Championships last year.

Nine players were put into a squad selection process as a result of the disappointing finish, but the current quartet, plus alternate Mili Smith, emerged.

Duff has never competed in a major global competition. Dodds has played 22 matches in Beijing after finishing fourth in the mixed doubles with Bruce Mouat, while Wright is a nurse who returned from her training to work full-time during the Covid-19 epidemic.

Wright said that she was working full-time until she joined Eve's team.

I only worked one hour a week. I went back to work full-time after the Covid pandemic hit in 2020.

She took time off for the trip to China after working on the wards alongside her training.

She said that she took eight weeks off so that she could return to work.

I will be back to work a week from now.

While it may have been a disappointing Games for TeamGB overall - this gold and the silver won by the men's curlers on Saturday their only medals - the final day will live long in the memory of Muirhead and her rink.

If you can bring your A-game in the Olympic finals, that shows how great and what fantastic abilities we all have.

To stand on the podium and get a gold medal around your neck is a moment I will never forget.