Snoop Dogg might have taken most of the attention in the Cortina Curling Stadium early on Friday, but Team GB’s duo delivered two big-ticket performances of their own to maintain their 100% record in the Winter Olympics mixed doubles.
The rap legend – in the high-end Italian mountain resort as a Team USA hype man and “honorary coach” – had a practice on the ice himself in front of a small crowd of bemused onlookers following the morning session.
And that came after the 54-year-old demanded a selfie with Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat, fresh from their win over Sweden.
“He’s just asked for a photo with us, so I’m feeling pretty good about myself,” Mouat told BBC Sport, before Dodds disclosed that Mr Dogg “said he’d heard about Bruce”.
The fancied Sweden – who beat them to bronze in 2022 – were beaten 7-4, before underdogs South Korea were more comfortably defeated 8-2 to leave Britain with a five wins from five.
It leaves the Scottish duo top of the standings and within touching distance of the semi-finals and, with it, a shot at a medal.
The curling cognoscenti reckon six wins in the nine round-robin games could be enough to earn a place in Monday’s last four, and the GB duo are now just one short.
They face two tough tests on Saturday against the teams closest to them in the table. Canada are first up at 09:05 GMT, followed by the unbeaten United States at 13:35 – both live on the BBC.
The South Korea game was the fifth time in less than 40 hours that Mouat and Dodds had taken to the ice, but they showed no sign of relenting. And, just like in their morning game, they cleaved open an early lead.
Without a win in their first three matches, the Koreans took the hammer – the right to throw last – but Britain stole three shots in the first two ends to establish an advantage. It was one they would never relinquish.
“Jen and Bruce were fantastic again,” said BBC Sport pundit and 2022 Olympic silver medallist Vicky Wright. “They just kept putting the pressure on and there was no let up for Korea.”
Mouat has been calling himself all the bad swears during three patchy opening games amid the Dolomite mountains in the north of Italy, but one of the sport’s leading lights lifted it on Friday.
And in Dodds, he has a partner who has been consistently superb so far.
Only Sweden’s Isabella Wranaa had been statistically better across the first two days, but she was no match, and neither was Kim Seon-yeong of South Korea.
It was a brace of points secured by Dodds that opened a 5-1 interval lead, and a further three steals after Kim faltered put even more distance between the teams with two ends remaining.
At that stage, the outcome was inevitable. And when the Koreans could only take one in the penultimate end, hands were shaken and the result confirmed.
“Five out of five is really good going, but tomorrow is a really big day,” Wright added. “Canada have only lost once – to the USA – and the USA are undefeated.”
By BBC Sports
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