By PA Sport staff

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Rhona Martin clinched a dramatic gold medal for Great Britain's women's curlers at the Ogden Ice Sheet on Thursday - bringing a nation's first Winter Olympics gold for 18 years.

Scot Martin kept her nerve with the very last stone of the match to land it right in the centre of the house and spark an invasion of the ice by the jubilant British team.

The victory was as nailbiting as it is possible to get.

Martin's team led 3-1 going into the eighth end, but Switzerland hit back to tie before the final end.

Crucially the captain possesssed the hammer - the last shot - and she maintained her utterly faultless performance to slide in the stone which secured a miraculous victory.

Four days ago Martin claimed "we're out, we're dead" after a preliminary-round defeat to Germany.

But ironically it was Switzerland's win over Germany which gave them a second chance.

They took it, needing a marathon 13 matches to gain a gold which will make Martin, Janice Rankin, Fiona MacDonald, Debbie Knox and alternate Maggie Morton - who also gets a medal after playing two ends in the preliminary round - household names.

Martin said: "I was just panicking on the last stone. I knew it would come off the inside but it also had to be dead roll weight and I hadn't played one like that for a wee while. It was just a case of having faith that I could I do it.

"We had to keep it a close game to have a chance and we were always in control - even when we lost the ninth we knew it wasn't a disaster as we had the hammer coming home.

"It was just the same as against Canada, as long as we had the hammer coming home we knew we'd be fine."

MacDonald added: "All the hard work we've put in has paid off. We know each other so well and we've been together for a few years now. We've been living in each others pockets for nine months now and we know each other so well."