If revenge is a dish best served cold, then the frigid Cortina Curling Centre is a pretty good place to do it.
Bruce Mouat and his band of merry men delivered a statement victory against the Sweden squad that beat them in the Winter Olympic Games final four years ago, to underline their status as one of the favourites for gold.
Mouat, Grant Hardie, Hammy McMillan Jr and Bobby Lammie have beaten Niklas Edin’s team in eight of their 10 meetings since that heart-breaking loss in Beijing.
But, under the Olympic rings for the first time since, this felt a little different.
Edin beat Team GB in an extra end in that final. Today, Mouat and crew were off the ice with two to spare.
After comfortably dismissing China in their Wednesday-night opener, Team GB knew this would be a step up in quality and rose to the occasion.
They won 6-3, with Mouat delivering two points in the first end to set out their stall. From there, they were uncatchable.
“We are very pleased,” he said.
“The guys and I are playing really well. It's just nice to be pretty consistent already after only two games.
“The ice has been great, the stones are running really well. I'm just really impressed with how the boys have turned up to the event and just relaxed straight into it.
“The guys have worked very hard over the last two weeks since I've been here, so I’m very happy with how we are.”
McMillan is confident they will play Sweden again but the defending champions have work to do if they are to make the semi-finals.
After an opening-day defeat to Canada, they are already 0-2, while Team GB are sitting pretty on 2-0.
Seven wins from the nine round-robin matches will guarantee a place in the semi-finals, while six – and perhaps even five – could be sufficient depending on how it rolls.
“Always playing them, we know it's going to be a tough game and especially being here in the Olympics and the loud crowd and the atmosphere here gives you that bit more energy towards the game,” McMillan said.
“I’m just delighted that we can controlled that well and brought out the best in us.
“I don't think we have to change too much, to be honest. It's a bit more of the same but just keeping that consistency there.”
There is mot much time for rest in curling and the team will be back on ice at 8.05am UK time to face Italy tomorrow.
“It's easy to have drop-off games here and there,” McMillan added.
“So just staying on top of our recovery and making sure that we're ready to go tomorrow morning, especially against Italy, it's going to be a loud crowd against us, so trying to quieten them down is the plan.”
Sportsbeat 2026