Rhona Martin backed Bruce Mouat to bounce back and dominate curling for years to come despite a crushing 5-4 loss in the Olympic gold medal match.
Destiny wasn’t on the side of Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan as they settled for silver in Beijing.
At 27 Mouat was the youngest skip in the entire tournament and Martin - who won her iconic Olympic gold aged 35 - believes the world remains at his feet.
“They will be hurting right now, understandably so,” said Martin.
“What a great week they’ve had. They probably can’t see it now but the future's so bright for this young team. They are up and coming, there’s no doubt.
“They are phenomenal and it’s exciting what lies ahead of them. Our boys can be so proud of what they’ve achieved.”
Sweden’s Niklas Edin controlled the final from start to finish to complete the set of Olympic medals having won silver in PyeongChang and bronze in Sochi.
Edin scored two in the second end and that was the highest single scored in any end of the match.
Vice-skip Grant Hardie looked to have changed the momentum of the game with a steal in the seventh but Edin kept hold of the hammer in the extra end to seal victory.
Mouat prevailed 7-6 over Edin in their early meeting at the Games, helping Team GB top the round-robin standings with eight wins from nine. They came up short of a ninth successive victory in the final.
The two teams have met on 23 occasions, with Mouat winning ten times and Edin 13, including two major global finals.
Silver marks Mouat’s dizzying rise to the top of the sport and he has now reached the podium at the first attempt at the World Championships, European Championships and Olympics.
Couldn't be more proud of @TeamMouat today. Incredible performance on the greatest stage of all.Congrats to @TeamNiklasEdin ,a perfect game to win.
— David Murdoch OLY (@DMurdoch17) February 19, 2022
Those Silver medals were hard earned and should be very proud of such an achievement for themselves and the country @BritishCurling https://t.co/zV0yF4kFao
“They've got years ahead of them,” said four-time Olympian Jackie Lockhart.
“I know it seems a long long way ahead but every year just passes and they're going to get stronger and stronger so they have to think about that.
“They gave their all and they are a great team.”
It took head coach David Murdoch three cracks of the whip to win an Olympic medal - silver at Sochi 2014.
“There’s longevity in this sport,” he said. “Niklas is a little bit older than Bruce and we’d like to think there are many years ahead for these guys.
“They’ve learned so fast and they're right up there at the pinnacle of the sport. They could have been champions here but it wasn’t to be.
"All of them will want to go again - we'll have those discussions in the summer."