Great Britain's reign as Olympic curling champions came to an end in Pinerolo as the necessary miracle failed to materialise and they were eliminated at the end of the round-robin phase.

Rhona Martin's team kept their side of the bargain with an emphatic 10-4 win over the United States but Canada's dramatic 9-8 final stone victory against Denmark secured the last semi-final berth for the north Americans.

Dejected Martin conceded her team had not shown the required consistency to progress, and once again questioned the wisdom of the team's controversial selection procedure.

Martin said: "I have said all along we have not played enough games together as a team and had we had a month longer to get to know each other it might have been different.

"But hindsight is a wonderful thing and we have got to move on. I am gutted that I will not be able to defend my title but I said before we came here that if we got to the semi-finals we'd be doing well."

Martin's team had breezed to victory over the outclassed Americans and having wrapped things up with four ends to spare they had to endure the agony of watching Canada's win from the sidelines.

Watched by the British players in the stands, Denmark managed to squeeze the tie into a final end level at 8-8 but Canadian skip Shannon Kleibrink kept her nerve with the last stone to seal Britain's fate.

Head coach Mike Hay rejected the suggestion that any extra time might have paid dividends. Selectors opted against picking an already established team and instead pulled together the best performing individuals.

Hay said: "Maybe the team could have got together earlier but who knows, the girls already knew each other and they had some good performances in this competition."

Martin's team had made a fine start to the defence of their title but proved far too inconsistent and even axed under-performing vice-captain Jackie Lockhart for Sunday's programme.

Despite also squeezing through to the semi-finals via the back door in Salt Lake City - when they relied on a Switzerland win to earn a play-off place - it was not to be this time around.

Martin hoped for the best when the lowly Danes led 5-3 after three ends, then pulled back to 8-8 for the final end. But crucially the experienced Kleibrink had the final stone.

The 39-year-old Martin insisted afterwards her international career was not necessarily over and said she would immediately concentrate on next week's Scottish Championships.

The victors in that competition will get another shot at the big time in the forthcoming World Championships and Martin insisted her hunger for her sport had not dimmed.

Martin said: "There is no point feeling sorry for yourself and now we will all look forward to playing against each other in the Scottish Championships next week.

"I just want to get this week out of the way then the Scottish Championships and then I will worry about other things. It is not over till the fat lady sings - and I ain't singing yet."

Meanwhile David Murdoch's men's team learned they will face group stage winners Finland in Wednesday's semi-finals. The other last-four clash will be between Canada and the United States.