GB curlers find silver lining at Winter Paralympic Games

Issued in conjunction with Scottish Disability Sport

Monday 20 March 2006

Great Britain’s wheelchair curling team is to return homefrom Turin, Italy tomorrow complete with the silver medals they won on the weekend.

The squad of five – all Scottish – assured themselves of a top-two finish with a 7-3 semi-final victory over Sweden on 17 March.

The team went on to face Canada in Pinerolo on Saturday in a dramatic final in which they lost 7-4.

This is the first time that the sport of wheelchair curling has been in the Winter Paralympics and the silver medal win equals the highest achievement by a British team or individual at the Games.

Fife’s Frank Duffy, who has been curling for six years, skipped the silver medallists. Angie Malone from Girvan, the squad of five’s female representative, was at Lead in the final. (Wheelchair curling is the only mixed Paralympic discipline.) Duffy and Malone were joined by Michael McCreadie of Lochwinnoch (Third), Tom Killin of Edinburgh (Second), who was introduced to the sport by McCreadie, and Ken Dickson of Berwick-upon-Tweed (Alternate). The team was managed by Ena Stevenson of Dunfermline and coached by Tom Pendreigh of Inverness.

The curlers were in a four-way tie for third place last week in the round-robin matches and clinched a place in the semi-finals with a win over the USA in their last pool game on 15 March. Team GB also won the 2005 Czech Open Wheelchair Curling Championships in Prague last November.

The IX Paralympic Games took place in Torino from 10-19 March. Team GB competed in the sports of ice sledge hockey, skiing and wheelchair curling.

Gavin Macleod, CEO, Scottish Disability Sport, said: “It was a roller coaster of emotions in the final. Frank’s crucial shot was within a hair’s-breadth of possibly securing the win.

“We are extremely proud of the team, their hard work and efforts and congratulate them on their silver medal in the debut of this Paralympic Winter Games sport.”

• The five players representing Team GB in Turin also won World Championship gold medals in 2004 in Switzerland and in 2005 in Glasgow, representing Scotland.
• Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) is the co-ordinating and governing body of disability sport in Scotland, covering a wide number of sports for people with various disabilities. GB Paralympians have produced outstanding results in recent years, including 15 medals – eight of which were gold – in Athens in 2004.
• In 2005, sportscotland awarded £195,000 to SDS, including £10,000 to the sport of wheelchair curling for athlete training, coaching and competition programmes. The backing from sportscotland supports key areas of SDS and helps the continued development of sporting opportunities for people with a disability at both grassroots and elite level. Swimming, athletics, boccia, bowls and football also receive direct funding for elite athletes, their coaching and training.
• The sportscotland investment also supports the infrastructure of SDS, focusing on the important work of volunteers, and their key role in the future development of disability sport.