OGDEN ? They came so close.
Team USA made it to the women's bronze medal match in curling at the 2002 Winter Games here and in the process brought their sport for the first time to national U.S. television. The Americans lost the bronze medal to the favored Canadians 9-5 Thursday morning, but few will forget watching Kari Erickson and friends mesmerize fans with a sport previously almost unknown in this country.
They will remember Erickson's 10th-end shot in round-robin that beat eventual gold medalist Great Britain. The Scottish team playing for Great Britain defeated Switzerland 4-3 Thursday afternoon in the final ? giving Great Britain its first gold medal in Winter Games since 1984.
During that gold-medal game, Salt Lake Organizing Committee President Mitt Romney made a surprise visit. In a break in action, he walked onto the floor with a microphone and told the pleased crowd: "What a great event.
I'm amazed. The people who run the games are not the guys in the suits in Salt Lake. These games turn on the volunteers.
"Let's have a hand for the volunteers," he said, then added, "These athletes do a great job. What great games. What a home for the Olympics."
Romney's visit to the curling venue adds credence to what U.S. lead Ann Swisshelm said during a press conference following the U.S. loss in the bronze medal game: "I think our sport has gained respect ? respect that it's deserved for many, many years."
Erickson hopes young people who watched will "go out and find a curling club. The more curlers we have, the more the sport will grow."
In reflecting on a disappointing bronze medal attempt, she added: "It was a tough game. We played hard. Canada played tough and deserved to win."
Swisshelm added: "This team has a motto. It comes from a movie. There's no crying in curling. Today is the closest I've come to crying in curling. I hope I'm there in '06 and '10."
The Canadians rebounded after a disappointing loss Wednesday to Great Britain in semi-final action. Skip Kelley Law said winning the bronze "means a lot to us after yesterday's loss. We regrouped and said a bronze
medal is great. Let's go out and win it. We won our last game in the Olympics and finished on a bright note."
Team second Georgina Wheatcroft said her team is proud of a 9-2 Olympic record.
"Unfortunately, we lost the wrong one (speaking of the semi-finals loss). But we came back and won today. That's what champions are about."
But the 2002 Winter Games champion is Team Great Britain, which prevailed in a last-rock breathtaker. In the 10th end, Great Britain's skip Rhona Martin nailed a draw to the button to win the gold. Martin and teammates hugged while screaming fans waved British flags, with a Scottish flag or two in the mix.
Rumors that Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, was in the stands for two of Great Britain's matches ? a men's and a women's ? earlier in the week were confirmed by a SLOC official Thursday.
Of her last throw, Martin said: "(My teammates) jumped in the air. I didn't even see the stone, so I figured it must be good then."
"Absolutely wonderful," was how she described the victory. "The hard work has now paid off."
Of her sudden celebrity in Scotland, where she lives in Dunlop, Martin smiled and said, "I'll still be a mother of two and a housewife. It's a small village."
Of her silver medal, Swiss skip Luzia Ebnoether said, "It's a great feeling that we won the silver. I can't imagine . . . "
Ebnoether couldn't finish her sentence because of tears. Teammate Mirjam Ott finished for her skip by saying her team is proud to win the first curling medal for Switzerland.
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