Olympics in Brief: British hopes in balance after loss

Curling: Britain's men face a fight to reach the semi-finals after losing to Canada 7-6. The hosts handed David Murdoch's side their third defeat in six games with just three games remaining in their round-robin schedule. With no room for slip-ups following two defeats in the opening five matches, Britain went into the game on a run of four successive wins over Kevin Martin's side, including last year's World Championship final in New Brunswick. In front of a raucous crowd Canada took a 2-0 lead in the second before Murdoch (left) brought Britain back with the final stone to close the third end. Britain then went 4-3 up half-way through only for Canada to tie at 5-5. A wrong line on the final throw gave Canada victory and left Murdoch's team fourth in the group ahead of last night's game with the US.

Ice hockey: Gretzky promotes own wine on restaurant visit

Retired great Wayne Gretzky took advantage of a restaurant visit in Vancouver at the weekend for a smart piece of product placement. After pitching up at the high-class CinCin eatery for a bite to eat, he signed bottles of his own vintage before decorating the table cloth with a unique thank-you note, commenting on the "great wine". The 49-year-old legend owns the No 99 Estates vineyard in Niagara.

Skating: Christie's medal hopes end after group stage

Nottinghamshire teenager Elise Christie's hopes of bouncing back from her 500m short-track speed-skating disappointment ended yesterday after she was eliminated in the heats of the 1500m. The 19-year-old finished fourth in her group after posting a time of 2min 23.898sec. "I was really nervous," she said. "I just messed it up. Maybe I let the whole experience get the best of me." Christie is still expected to compete in the 1,000m this week.

Snowboarding half-pipe: Lago keeps medal 'safe' amid photo frolics

Bronze medal-winner Scotty Lago left Whistler last week somewhat chastened after risque pictures of him appeared on a social networking website. He was pictured in his Team USA T-shirt, with a woman kneeling below his waist to kiss his medal at a party. "Got home this morning to all my homies," Lago relayed on a social networking site. "Keeping my medal in a safe spot for now haha."