Rhona Howie: Women's curling bronze a "great achievement"

Team GB's women's curling coach Rhona Howie has saluted her team after they responded from a heartbreaking semi-final loss to win bronze at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Eve Muirhead and company came up just short in their last-four clash with Canada on Wednesday, but their skipper kept her nerve to secure victory over Switzerland on the last stone in the third-place playoff.

Their medal helped Great Britain equal its previous best haul at a Winter Games, and Howie, who was champion at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, feels that it was just rewards for their character.

"To win a bronze medal is a great achievement," she told reporters. "They showed character, they played great and it was a well-deserved medal.

"We were all devastated on Wednesday and you have to take time to grieve a loss like that.

"You can't just say 'bin it' and move on. We had to debrief properly and look at the not-so-nice bits and they came out fighting, showing their character, and it was great to see."

Team GB's men's curling team go for gold against Canada at 1.30pm GMT on Friday.