Sochi 2014: GB curlers hail 'dream' bronze medal

British curling skip Eve Muirhead called winning bronze a "dream come true" as Team GB equalled their best medal haul at a Winter Olympics.

Muirhead secured a 6-5 victory over Switzerland with the last stone of the bronze medal play-off in Sochi.

Fellow Scots Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton made up the team.

"It's a dream come true. This is the medal we've been missing and to win it with four of my best friends feels so special," said Muirhead.

GB's men face Canada for gold at 13:30 GMT on Friday and their guaranteed medal makes GB's haul of four their best at a Winter Games since 1924.

The medal was also Britain's first women's Olympic curling medal since Rhona Martin team's gold in 2002 and Muirhead said they were determined not to go away from Sochi empty handed.

"I'm mentally buzzing. It's been a constant rollercoaster," she said.

"We've had some tough losses and great wins and many of the games have come down to last stone, last end. To end on a high makes it even better. I couldn't think of what it would have been like to walk away without a medal around my neck."

And Muirhead, 23, believes the quartet can go onto greater things following their success in Sochi.

"We're a young team with a lot of time ahead of us," she said. "We're the youngest team here, our average age is 23 and we've got a big future ahead of us."

GB had to pick themselves up after losing to Canada in the Ice Cube Curling Centre on Wednesday.

Sloan admitted the team had been distraught at missing the opportunity to go for gold but said winning bronze still felt "amazing".

"We were devastated yesterday and it shows our team spirit that we could rebound from that loss," said Sloan.

"There was no way we were leaving here without a medal. We wanted the gold but it shows the spirit of our team to pick ourselves up and a bronze medal feels amazing right now."

Hamilton echoed Sloan's sentiments, adding winning bronze was a fine way to round off a mixed few days.

"It feels absolutely fantastic to put on a strong team performance like that and to come home with an Olympic medal is absolutely what we have always wanted," said Hamilton

"The last 24 hours has been a complete mix of emotions coming off the Canada game and managing to come back and come out stronger was great."