History repeated itself in brutal fashion for mixed doubles curlers Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds, who lost the bronze medal match for a second Olympics in succession.
The pair swept through the round-robin stage, winning eight of their nine matches, and were the top seeds heading into the all-important knockouts.
But that excellent form deserted the 2021 world champions at the worst possible time. First came a 9-3 hammering at the hands of Sweden’s Rasmus and Isabella Wranaa, who they had beaten 7-4 in the round robin, in Monday’s semi-final.
That catastrophic defeat brought back ugly memories of the same stage in Beijing, when they lost to Norway – having let a lead slip – to put them in a tense battle for bronze, only to see that dream vanish too against an inspired Swedish team.
And there was an element of those demons coming back on Tuesday in Cortina, as Italy’s reigning world and Olympic champions Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner avenged their round-robin defeat to win a tight encounter 5-3.
Mouat and Dodds lacked the same confidence they had shown in the group stage, while Constantini was near-immaculate, sealing the match with a perfect final stone right in the centre of the house.
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