Britain earned its first Olympic curling medal in 12 years as its women's team won 6-5 against Switzerland in the bronze medal game in Sochi on Thursday.
Ahead of the Canada-Sweden final later in the day, the contest between the 2012 and 2013 world champions came down to a dramatic final end as British skip Eve Muirhead sent a stone into the center of the house for the winning point.
"What a dream come true," Muirhead said. "The Olympic medal was the one medal we were missing, and for me to win it with four of my best friends just feels so special."
The win in front of a passionate yet sparse crowd at the Ice Cube Curling Center came a day after a disappointing 6-4 loss to Canada in the semifinal, dashing the Britons' gold medal hopes.
"To lose that semifinal and know that you've got to come back and play for the bronze medal is extra tough," Muirhead said. "For us it just showed how strong we were. We went back, we regrouped and we came out really, really fighting."
The Swiss women's team of skip Mirjam Ott misses the medals for the second Olympics in a row.
"That's curling," she said. "You've just got to keep going."
The Swiss led in the early stages after taking two points off the second of 10 ends, but Britain bounced back with an accurate takeout for two in the fifth.
The turning point came in the eighth end, when Muirhead drew the last stone into the center of the house and Britain claimed a second point by millimeters after a delay for measurement.
Britain's men can win the country's second-ever Olympic curling gold medal if they beat Canada on Friday, following 2002 gold for the women's team.
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