SOCHI, Russia – Of the 57 athletes representing Great Britain at the Sochi Games, only 12 have medals after 83 events. Ten of them are curlers, with a silver win for the men's team and a bronze for the women.
No wonder the sport is sweeping up fans back home.
As the Team GB men faced Canada in a gold medal match on Friday night, #curling was the top trending topic on Twitter in the United Kingdom — even as their team got into a deep hole and conceded after eight ends. Canada won 9-3.
It's the first silver in Sochi for a country with only one gold, in women's skeleton, and two bronzes.
"I'm really, really disappointed in the final, but I think the silver is a good result for us overall," Great Britain men's coach Soren Gran said.
Great Britain's women's curling coach, David Hay, says he hopes the showing by both teams results in more funding for curling in their country.
"One of the biggest things that would help the sport in Great Britain would be more facilities and to improve the ice conditions," he said. "If we get that enthusiasm and more funding into improving facilities it will be a big boost for the sport."
Gran said he hopes it will help young people get into the sport more. "It's hard for us to to do more than just be ambassadors," he said.
— By Oskar Garcia — Twitter http://twitter.com/oskargarcia
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Associated Press reporters are filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
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