Winter Olympics: Murdoch Finds Inspiration in Reruns of Martin's Gold

Britain’s men curlers are drawing inspiration from Rhona Martin, despite the fact that she and her team failed to defend the Olympic title, as they try to claim a gold medal for the first time in 82 years. They will be assured of at least a silver if they beat Finland in the semi-final at the Pinerolo Palaghiaccio today.

"I have watched the video of Rhona Martin’s triumph so many times for inspiration and wished it was me," said David Murdoch, the 27-year-old beef farmer from Lockerbie who is the team’s skip. "It is the biggest game of our lives because we are two games away from being Olympic champions - it is absolutely, unbelievably huge. It is the kind of game you always want to play in."

Murdoch has been playing the sport since he was six, having started as an ice hockey player. He and his team of Ewan MacDonald, Euan Byers, Warwick Smith and alternate Craig Wilson were beaten 5-2 by Finland in the final match of the round-robin tournament on Sunday. Murdoch’s men, though, had beaten the Finns, led by Markku Uusipaavalniemi, the competitor with the longest name at these Games, on five previous occasions this season.

"That’s fine," Murdoch said. "It’s what we expected. We get a chance to get our revenge on Finland. We are going in very confident. This is the biggest thing for our sport because we have got a chance of guaranteeing a medal and achieving something we have looked forward to for a long, long time. You just have to be totally focused on what you want to achieve. It is a game of curling and the important thing is not to let your mind wander. If you focus and make every shot your dream will come true."

In MacDonald, Britain have the most accurate curler at the competition. His wife Fiona was part of Team Martin that claimed the gold medal in Salt Lake City last time around but has stayed in Scotland on this occasion to look after the couple’s young son Jake.