Four Scots End 102-Year Wait for Olympic Curling Gold Shot

Four Scottish curlers are one match away from making history, and the entire country is now watching.

Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Hammy McMillan, and Bobby Lammie will face Canada on Saturday for Olympic gold in men's curling. Just three months ago, these same four ate dinner at a Glasgow pub where nobody recognized them. Last Thursday, that same pub changed the screens from a Celtic game so patrons could watch them reach the Olympic final.

The journey started nine years ago with a simple meeting and one clear goal written at the top of their list: win Olympic gold. The four told British Curling they'd only join the elite program as a team, not individually. Their ultimatum was accepted, and they've dominated ever since.

Since winning silver in Beijing four years ago, Team Mouat has collected two World Championships, multiple European crowns, and a record 12 Grand Slam titles. They're considered the best in the world, and now they're one win from proving it on the biggest stage.

Their success comes from an unlikely chemistry. McMillan is energetic enough for all four of them, Hardie is the logical engineer, Mouat is calm and reflective, and Lammie is the steady presence in the background. Cousins Hardie and McMillan, both 33, grew up in southwest Scotland with Lammie, 29, while 31-year-old Mouat knew them from shared school days in Edinburgh.

But it's what binds them that matters most: total honesty and trust. "If one of us is in the wrong, the rest can say so," McMillan explains. Olympic gold medalist Vicky Wright notes that unlike most teams named after their skip, this group "operates on a level playing field" where everyone brings something different and respects that dynamic.

Why This Inspires

What makes this story remarkable isn't just their athletic dominance. It's watching four friends who demanded to chase their dream together, on their own terms, now standing one match from achieving it. They've revolutionized their sport along the way, with McMillan and Lammie transforming sweeping from "the lads with the brushes" into an art form that's changed curling itself.

Their Thursday semi-final win over Switzerland drew 3.4 million BBC viewers at its peak. The morning of that crucial match, Mouat went pillowcase shopping and "spent far too much money." Before taking the ice, McMillan and Hardie shared laughs while Mouat waved to familiar faces in the crowd. This is a team so comfortable in their own skin that pressure seems to slide off like a stone on fresh ice.

Britain hasn't won Olympic gold in men's curling in 102 years, but these four Scots believe Saturday is their destiny.