Eve Muirhead ends retirement after role at Milan-Cortina Games inspires return to curling
Eve Muirhead, the Winter Olympic gold medallist, has ended a four-year retirement after saying her stint as Team GB's chef de mission at the Milan-Cortina Games in February inspired her to return to competitive curling. The 36-year-old will re-enter competition this season in mixed doubles.
Muirhead will partner two-time Olympic silver medallist Bobby Lammie in mixed doubles this season; the pairing previously won the world title in 2022 and are aiming ultimately for the Alpes 2030 Games. Four-time Olympian Muirhead stepped away from competing after winning gold in Beijing four years ago and subsequently spoke about the mental health challenges she experienced towards the end of a 15-year struggle to win gold.
Reflecting on her time in Milan-Cortina, Muirhead said the role of chef de mission "brought back emotions that I had not felt for a long time." She added: "But the competitive side of me never disappeared."
Muirhead also addressed the demands of returning to Olympic-level competition, saying: "I know how demanding the road to an Olympics is, but I am returning from a very different place. I feel refreshed, physically strong and excited by the challenge. I would not be coming back unless I believed I could perform at that level again."
Former team-mate Vicky Drummond, 32, is also returning to challenge for a place in the GB mixed doubles programme and will partner Euan Kyle. Drummond said being part of the BBC Sport team in Cortina in February rekindled her passion and that she wants to show her young daughter Sophie that "becoming a mum doesn't mean your ambitions have to end."
Drummond, an intensive care nurse, added: "More than anything, I want my return to mean something beyond the ice. I want Sophie to grow up knowing that it's never too late to chase something that excites you. If she grows up believing that anything is possible because she watched me try, then this journey will already have been worth it. I have no idea where this road will lead, but I'm excited to find out."
The report noted that spending time with Muirhead and Drummond in Cortina earlier this year made clear how much both enjoyed being back in an elite sport environment and how much curling meant to them. It also referenced Muirhead's near-zealous completion of Hyrox events around the world and said she will return revived and with the experience of having dealt with the stresses and strains of an Olympic gold-medal campaign.
A third member of the gold-winning rink, Jen Dodds, is also mentioned as part of the mix, and Drummond and Dodds will be rivals to Muirhead in the GB Curling mixed doubles programme. Muirhead will return to competition this season in mixed doubles with Lammie, with the stated aim of ultimately reaching the Alpes 2030 Games.