Brad Jacobs leads Canada's curling men to Olympic gold over Great Britain
CBC
Canada skip Brad Jacobs captured his second Olympic men's curling gold medal in 12 years on Saturday, defeating top-ranked Bruce Mouat and Great Britain 9-6 in a tightly contested game in Milan.
Jacobs scored three points in the ninth end and stole a point in the 10th when Mouat's final shot to force an extra end was slightly wide.
"I'm proud of my guys. I'm proud of the way that we were able to hang in there throughout that game," Jacobs, the first men's skip to win two Olympic gold, told CBC Sports of his Calgary-based team. "To see the look on their faces at the end and celebrating that win is special."
Jacobs won 2014 gold in Sochi, Russia, while his teammates Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert were last in an Olympic final in 2010, when they won gold in Vancouver. Kennedy and Hebert lost the semifinal when they returned to the Olympics eight years later in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
"They played a heckuva game," Hebert said of the Brits. "They're the No. 1 team in the world for a reason, and games like that can go either way, so we're feeling grateful to be standing on top of the [medal] podium."
Kennedy also won 2022 bronze in Beijing and is Canada's most decorated Olympic curler. Brett Gallant, the rink’s fourth member, was on the bronze team with Kennedy.
It's Mouat's second straight Olympic silver after falling to Sweden's Niklas Edin four years ago in Beijing.
Earlier Saturday, Ottawa skip Rachel Homan picked up her first Games medal in three attempts with a 10-7 victory over the United States in the women’s bronze match at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
The men engaged in a back-and-forth battle on the sport's biggest stage.
Great Britain missed a couple of double takeouts in the ninth end and then bumped a freeze attempt. That allowed Jacobs to pick out the opposing stone near the button to take a two-point lead.
Up 8-6 in the 10th end, Jacobs made a big-weight hit with his final throw, with 7.2 seconds left on the clock, to force Mouat to make a tricky shot to score two to tie.
When Great Britain's rock overcurled, Canada scored a single and the celebration was on. Brooms flew in the air and the players and coaches hugged by the bench.
The Canadians walked over to a section of friends, family and supporters to share the moment. Kennedy hopped on the boards with his arms extended in the air, and Jacobs joined him as he held the Canadian flag with outstretched arms.
It felt like a road game for the Canadian team as the near-capacity crowd was strongly pro-Mouat.
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