Winter Olympics: Murdoch's Men Left Heartbroken As Finland Reach Final Frontier

Britain’s men curlers were knocked out of the semi-final by Finland when Markku Uusipaavalniemi, the competitor with the longest name at these Games, played the perfect shot to give his side a 4-3 victory.

After more than 2 hours of tense action it spelt heartbreak for Britain. David Murdoch, a 27-year-old beef farmer from Lockerbie, thought he had done enough to see Britain through but Uusipaavalniemi produced a shot so precise that it glided almost directly on to the Olympic rings that represent curling’s equivalent of a bullseye.

Britain can still win bronze if they beat the United States in the play-off tomorrow after they lost in their semi-final to Canada. But Murdoch will rue an opportunity missed. He could have led Britain to their first men’s curling gold medals for 82 years. "It’s hard to believe [Uusipaavalniemi] made that shot," he said. "We’ve done everything possible, trained as hard as we could and gone in with great game plans. It will be a test of our team to get over our disappointment and come out firing on Friday." Finland are relative minnows in international curling terms. The country has only one rink but they always held the upper hand in a low-scoring match.

Even the vociferous support of a flag-waving, kilted section of the crowd could not inspire the British. The pivotal moment came in the seventh end when Murdoch could have converted his final shot into three points but, after a long consultation with his teammates and the coach, played relatively safely and scored only one point. "We began to believe that it was going to be our day after that," said Uusipaavalniemi.

Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, has called the continuing controversy over the drug scandals involving the Austrian team a scenario "not even Hollywood could come up with".

The latest plot line came yesterday when Walter Mayer, the disgraced coach at the centre of the soap opera, said he had been trying to commit suicide when he crashed into a road barrier in Austria while fleeing Turin.

He said he bolted after hearing a radio report last Saturday that the headquarters of the Austrian cross-country and biathlon teams had been raided by Italian police. "I panicked," Mayer told an Austrian magazine. "I knew I would suffer injustice. I wanted to explain this injustice from outside, from a neutral place in Austria. I was completely shattered. I couldn’t think clearly. When something like that happens you are in an extraordinary mental situation. I wanted to take my own life because my world had been destroyed. I wanted to end my life with the car."

Mayer was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after the crash but appeared in court in Austria on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to charges of civil disorder, assault and damage to property. He could still face arrest by the Italian authorities if a magistrate decides after an investigation that he has broken the country’s strict anti-doping laws. "It is indeed a saga," said Rogge. Mayer will be at the centre of a special investigation to be carried out by the IOC into the Austrian Nordic ski team. He was serving a ban from the Olympics until after the 2010 Games after being linked to blood doping at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

Sanctions could be taken against the skiers even without any of them having tested positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs. The police and IOC doping raid found syringes, drugs and blood-transfusion equipment. The Austrians claim the equipment and drugs were used for hemoglobin testing. "To find somebody guilty of doping you don’t necessarily need urine and blood samples," Rogge said. "It can also be based on circumstantial evidence."

Already two Austrians have confessed to team officials that they "may have used illegal methods". The IOC is analyzing the samples of 10 biathletes and cross-country skiers taken after the raid last Saturday. The analysis may not be completed until after the Olympics have finished on Sunday, although the results are normally known within 72 hours.

The unprecedented IOC investigation was triggered when Olympic officials found that Mayer was at the Games. Rogge said the decision was made on Saturday to coordinate the police and IOC anti-doping swoop on the Austrians at the weekend. "They said, ‘We want Mayer,’" Rogge said. "They said, ‘We will strike today. Will you please do it at the same time?’"

Austria consolidated their second position in the medals table as Siegfried Grabner took the bronze medal in the parallel giant slalom in a snowboard event won by Switzerland’s Philipp Schoch.