Image source, Getty Images

Are you new to curling? Here's how it works...

Each of the four team members delivers two stones each and the aim is to get your stones closer to the button - the centre of the "house" - than your opponents to score points. Only stones that end in the house - the series of rings - are eligible to score.

If a team scores any points in an end, the advantage of throwing the last stone in the next end - known as the "hammer" - goes to the other team.

Matches are played over 10 ends, with an extra end deciding matches that finish level.

There are many nuances, which we'll try to explain as we go along, but hopefully that gives you the basic premise.

Great Britain's Hammy McMillan delivers the first stone - a guard at the top of the house.

GB are playing the red stones, Canada the yellow.

The Olympic men's curling final is under way.

BBC Two

Eve Muirhead, who was skip of the gold medal-winning British women's team in 2022, speaking on BBC Two: "It will be an incredible match out there. It's going to be really, really close. It's going to go down to the last stone or end.

"That's the sort of the game we want. It will have people on the edge of their seats.

"They are in a good mood. They have showed a lot of grit and determination. Things haven't always gone their way but it shows they don't give up.

"It's a new competition now. Canada are starting with the hammer and they don't want to give Canada a lead. If they can stay on top of them then that's the key to tonight.

"They have done us so proud. There's a full gang here who will be behind them every step of the way and the nation is too."

The teams have been introduced to the crowd now, the handshakes are completed and we're about to get under way.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

The players are led out by six pipers. Class.

Vicky Wright
Olympic gold medallist curler on BBC Two

Hammy McMillan and Bobby Lammie are the best sweeping duo in the world. They have mastered the art of dragging the stone an extra eight to 10 feet down the ice, really making it curl when they have to.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Image source, Getty Images

To understand the dynamic between the British quartet, you have to go back almost nine years to when they first came together as a team.

With the world of curling being as small as it is, they weren't strangers to each other. Grant Hardie and Hammy McMillan are cousins from south-west Scotland. Bobby Lammie hails from there too and played in a rink previously with Mouat, who knew the others from their shared school days in Edinburgh.

Approaches were made, conversations had, culminating in a meeting.

"That first time we met, the thing we wrote at the top of our list of goals was to win Olympic gold," Mouat told BBC Sport.

After that, the die was cast. The boys told British Curling they were only willing to join the elite programme as a unit and not individually. Their ultimatum was accepted, success has followed and now they are considered the best in the world.

Read more about the British quartet's journey to potential Olympic glory.

Jess Anderson
BBC Sport in Cortina

Earlier this week we had a big load of snow in Cortina and some milder weather since then has meant that snow has quickly started to melt.

Following the four-man event this morning, a big dump of snow that was on the roof of the start house fell and bits of metal roof came down with it.

Clearly that is a pretty dangerous situation and no spectators will be allowed to stand in the start area this evening as a precaution.

Luckily no one was there at the time.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Still a fair few gaps in this place as we near the first stone. But the fans who are in are making themselves heard.

Switzerland were unbeatable during the round-robin phase - nine wins out of nine.

But GB kept in touch with them during their semi-final, skip Bruce Mouat found some exceptional shots in the second half of the match, and that left the Swiss needing two from the final end to secure victory.

They couldn't do so - GB stole two shots - and that sent Bruce and the GB boys into tonight's final.

So Great Britain ended with a 5-4 winning record, but they needed either Italy or Norway to lose their final match on Thursday morning to qualify for the semi-finals.

The hosts were beaten by Switzerland, meaning GB squeezed through in fourth place.

Great Britain started the men's curling competition as one of the favourites - the same quartet won silver in Beijing and were world champions last year.

But the round-robin phase didn't go quite as planned.

They went into their last match needing to beat the USA and then hope for favours from elsewhere in the final round of matches the following day.

GB did what they needed to do...

Only the top 20 sleds progress to the fourth heat of the two-woman bobsleigh this evening.

With the British pair in 21st place, that could mean they don't progress to heat four, where the medals will be decided.

Pilot Adele Nicoll will do her best to steer her team into that last run.

Image source, Getty Images

This is the third time in four Winter Olympics that Great Britain have contested the gold medal match in men's curling.

David Murdoch was the skip of the team (pictured) that was beaten by Canada in the 2014 final in Sochi, while Bruce Mouat's rink lost to Sweden four years ago in Beijing.

Great Britain's women were Olympic champions in 2002 and 2022 but you have to go back to 1924 for the last time Britain's men won curling gold.

A long time between drinks.

Richard Winton
BBC Sport Scotland in Cortina

Hammy McMillan is loving this. The 33-year-old is at least 70% gallus most of the time, but he's revelling in this occasion.

Fans are singing his name and you can see his grin from the other end of the rink as he waves his brush at them.

Away from the curling, Great Britain's Adele Nicoll and Ashleigh Nelson are 21st at the halfway point of the two-woman bobsleigh, with the final two runs to come this evening.

After yesterday's second run, Nicoll told BBC Sport: "It is my first full season of competing with Ashleigh consistently. I am trying my best. I know I can do some better runs for sure.

"It is not a case of finding a difference to make. I know what to do and I have done it right a lot of times. Hopefully I can put it together."

It looks like a battle between Germany and the USA for the medals - German pairs are first, second and fourth, while American duos lie third and fifth.

Image source, Getty Images

Three of the Canadian team have won men's curling gold before.

Skip Brad Jacobs led a different rink to victory in Sochi 12 years ago - beating Great Britain in the final - while Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert were in the victorious 2010 team on home ice in Vancouver.

Brett Gallant is the other member of their 2026 line-up and will want to join his team-mates in winning Olympic gold, for sure.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Canada have already won one curling medal today - there were joyous scenes earlier as their women's team beat the USA to clinch bronze.

Great Britain's final opponents Canada have been at the centre of some curling controversy during these Winter Olympics.

Marc Kennedy became involved in a heated verbal exchange with Swedish opponent Oskar Eriksson during their round-robin contest.

The Swedes believed Kennedy was double-touching some of his stones - releasing the handle at the appropriate time but then giving the stone another prod with his finger to correct its course - which is not allowed.

But the cards were signed by both teams at the end, meaning the result would stand in a sport that is proudly self-governed by the players.

World Curling later confirmed that "decisions made during a game are final" and that they do not use video replays "to re-umpire" decisions.

Switzerland reported Kennedy to the umpire during a match between those two nations later in the event, although he has not faced any sanction for such an offence at these Games.

BBC Two

You can watch the men's curling final in full on BBC Two and with us on this page via the "Watch and listen" tab.

I'm sure Legend, Fury and co won't mind if you catch up with Gladiators on the BBC iPlayer later.

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