By Anna Thompson BBC Sport at the Winter Olympics

Murdoch felt Britain were out of luck in the final end

Great Britain curling skip David Murdoch said he was devastated to leave the Winter Olympics without a medal.

His team lost 8-6 to the USA in the bronze play-off match in Pinerolo.

Murdoch, 27, told BBC Sport: "Obviously I am devastated but it was not meant to be today.

"We had a bit of a bad start when we lost three in the third end. That caught us out a bit because the ice started to straighten.

British curlers miss out on medal

"On this ice it is always really hard when you are three or four down."

Murdoch praised his men for fighting back from 4-1 and then 6-2 down. In the seventh end he scored a double take-out to bump Britain's total up to 6-5 and haul them back into the game.

We fought back well and showed a lot of heart and spirit but we have not had the luck with the final end in the last couple of games David Murdoch

But in the ninth end, Great Britain were forced to take one to leave the score 7-6 in USA's favour with just one end remaining and Pete Fenson's men had the crucial hammer or final stone.

"We fought back well and showed a lot of heart and spirit and put them under pressure at the end," Murdoch added.

"But we have not had the luck with the final end in the last couple of games and I was a little disappointed with my final shot.

"We really couldn't have done any more. We trained our hearts out and prepared as well as we could and came here and had some great performances and beat a lot of good teams but just never quite got the breaks."

I am hoping we will get the chance to bury it at the next Olympics David Murdoch

Both teams played high accuracy games with the USA just shading Britain 87% to 86%.

And even a streaker at the beginning of the sixth end did not seem to affect anyone's concentration.

Both teams simply laughed at the man who had only a rubber chicken to cover his modesty.

Murdoch said the Games had been a fantastic experience, adding: "I would not have changed anything - apart from the result."

And as he and his team head off for the Scottish Championships he is already planning his Olympic return, in Vancouver in 2010, where at the age of 31 he will still be one of the youngest skips.

"It is hard to take because the chance was there. It will be with me for a long time but I am hoping we will get the chance to bury it at the next Olympics," said Murdoch.