Gold at last!

Kevin Martin can finally cross one more thing off his "to do" list. After coming home with silver medals so many times before, "The Old Bear" is finally a world champion.

The Canadian squad combined for 91% in the gold medal game, including a 95% from both John Morris and Marc Kennedy. The Canadians defeated Scotland's David Murdoch by a score of 6-3 when they ran the Scots out of rocks in the tenth end.

Scotland started with last rock advantage, thanks to their win over Canada in the 1 vs. 2 playoff game. But the hammer didn't seem to help them, as Canada forced them to blank the first and then Canada got a steal in the second. Scotland got some points on the board, though, with a single point in the third end to tie it up.

After blanking the fourth end, Martin picked up a duce in the fifth to jump out to a lead to close out the first half. Another steal in the seventh end put Martin ahead by three.

In the eighth and ninth end, the two teams traded duces, giving Martin a 6-3 edge heading into the tenth end. But Scotland would have the hammer in that last end and, although it would be difficult, having last rock could go a long way towards picking up three points to force an extra end. But it wasn't meant to be, as Kevin Martin kept the front of the house clean and was left with a routine wide open take-out for the win.

This gold medal, following up Jennifer Jones' world championship last week, puts Canada on top of the curling world. And now, though many thought so already, Kevin Martin is officially the world's best.