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BEIJING, China — Swede Niklas Edin was already a five-time world champion, silver medalist and Olympic bronze medalist in curling. Saturday at the Beijing Games, he got his hands on the last title he lacked: Olympic champion.

Four years after his loss in the final against American John Shuster in PyeongChang, Edin defeated Briton Bruce Mouat 5-4 in extra end to clinch the gold medal in China.

” This is completely crazy! I almost asked someone to confirm that we had won before coming here,” said Edin, who had finished fourth, then third, then second at his three previous Olympic tournaments.

“Obviously, it’s been a long journey and there have been hard-to-swallow defeats, but this gold medal crowns several years of great success,” added the Swede.

Edin thus became the most decorated skip in the history of men’s curling.

Never had a final required an extra end in the men’s curling tournament at the Olympic Games.

While a stone from Edin was installed on the button, in the 11th end, Mouat just missed his exit attempt, his stone not touching that of his opponent. The Brits watched in desolation and then, after a pause, it’s not polite to celebrate their opponents’ misses, that the Swedes got the celebrations going.

Sweden won the first Olympic gold medal in its history in men’s curling.

“As soon as we formed this team, we understood that few teams would have as much talent as us. We knew that if we worked hard, trusted each other and played well together, we would go a long way. We got great results in almost every tournament,” Edin recalled.

The Swedes had taken second place overall and reached the final with a semi-final victory over the Canadian quartet led by Brad Gushue.

Great Britain was looking for its first gold medal since the Chamonix Games in 1924. It won the bronze medal in Sochi.

Mouat had suffered just one loss in nine round-robin games, rising to the top of the standings. He had defeated Shuster in the semi-finals to move on to the final duel.

Gushue and his team completed the podium following an 8-5 win over the United States on Friday.

The Swedes got going after conceding a point to their opponents in the first end. They scored two points to take a 2-1 lead and stole a point from the Brits in the third end.

The game then calmed down for the rest of the clash.

Mouat made it 3-2 in the fourth end and Edin held the hammer for four straight ends. After seeing the Brits tie the game, Sweden took a 4-3 lead with two ends to go.

The game of chess continued in the 10th end, when Edin made two great outings to force his opponent to try a field goal. Mouat placed his stone on the button to force an extra end.

Sweden add another curling medal

Later in the day, in the women’s competition, Sweden defeated Switzerland 9-7 in the small final to clinch the bronze medal.

Gold will be contested tonight between Japan and Great Britain.