Curling

PADDOCK Wood curler Angharad Ward admitted it was a case of what might have been at the Winter Youth Olympics after leaving Austria without the medal she so desperately desired.

The 16-year-old, a student at Walthamstow Hall School, was the only English member of a British rink, at Innsbruck, that included three Scots, Rachel Hannen, Thomas Muirhead and skip Duncan Menzies.

But, despite starting the mixed team competition with high expectations, they struggled to find their best form in the opening rounds and failed to qualify for the knock-out stages.

Three wins in a row followed on from four straight defeats in the round-robin stage, but it proved to be too little, too late, and Ward admitted to having a few regrets after her first Olympic experience.

"It was a bit frustrating because we played so well in our last three group games," said Ward.

"But you have to learn from these things and we know that we should have started the tournament better.

"You can't afford to let it slide and think 'Oh it is okay, we'll turn this around'; these are the best players in the world at our age and you have to play your best from the off.

"But it was all about experience and I have improved so much and learned so much from being involved in the Games; it was fantastic."

After the British rink were knocked out, Ward's attentions turned to the mixed doubles event where she was paired with Norway's Markus Skogvold.

In the mixed doubles, the Games organisers opted to mix up the nations with a boy and girl from different Olympic countries paired and, despite losing in the first round, Ward praised the decision.

"Markus and I had a lot of fun playing together. It was a fantastic experience and we were very unlucky not to go through.

"We lost our game on the last stone, which was a tiny bit frustrating, but overall the Games were amazing and gave me a great taste of what a real Olympics could be like.

"That's where I want to get to, eventually, so I know I have to keep working and training as hard as I can to get there."

The British Olympic Association prepares and leads British athletes at the summer, winter and youth Olympic Games. It works in partnership with sport national governing bodies to enhance Olympic success and is responsible for championing the Olympic values. www.olympics.org.uk