Image source, Getty ImagesByRichard WintonBBC Sport Scotland- Published15 minutes ago
Winter Olympic gold medallist Eve Muirhead has reversed her retirement, saying being Team GB's chef de mission at this year's Games has inspired her to return to curling after four years away.
The 36-year-old will team up with two-time Olympic silver medallist Bobby Lammie in mixed doubles this season - the pair having won the world title in 2022 - with a view to ultimately reaching 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.
The Scot was Team GB's chef de mission at the Milan-Cortina Games in February and says that "brought back emotions that I had not felt for a long time".
Muirhead explained that being away from curling gave her the chance to try new things, take on new physical challenges, and enjoy the sport "without the pressure I had placed on myself for so many years".
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"But the competitive side of me never disappeared," she added. "The more time I spent around elite sport and curling, the more I began to wonder whether I still had something to give on the ice.
"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."
Muirhead's gold medal-winning team-mate Vicky Drummond is also returning to the sport to rival her - and a third member of that rink, Jen Dodds - in the GB Curling mixed doubles programme.
Drummond, 32, says being part of the BBC Sport team in Cortina in February rekindled her passion for competing, and that she wants to show her young daughter Sophie that "becoming a mum doesn't mean your ambitions have to end".
"More than anything, I want my return to mean something beyond the ice," said the intensive care nurse, who will partner Euan Kyle.
"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."
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Former team-mates Vicky Drummond and Eve Muirhead will be rivals in mixed doubles
Analysis: Friends become rivals in fascinating twist
Spending time with Muirhead and Drummond in Cortina earlier this year, it was clear how much both revelled being back in the elite sport environment and how much curling meant to them.
In Muirhead's case, there was always going to be a void after the all-consuming job of chef de mission ended abruptedly when the Games did.
And her near-zealous completion of Hyrox events around the world - and at a predictably elite level - spoke to the competitive fire still inside her.
At 36, she is still young and will return revived - and with the cachet of having not just won Olympic gold - but dealt with the stresses and strains of that journey. And she will do so with arguably the best sweeper in the sport alongside her.
Drummond is even younger and returns with a different motivation. That is not to say she'll not be just as competitive as her close friend.
The battle between them, and Dodds, to be part of GB's pre-eminent pairing as we move towards the next Winter Olympics will be fascinating.
