Athletes try to block out Korea situation

Athletes will always tell you that they try to live in a bit of a bubble. Lots of things happen in the outside world that we try to detach ourselves from. You have to be pretty selfish to get to the top of your sport.

But, even if you live in a bubble, the situation in North Korea is one there’s no getting away from.

It was certainly a topic of conversation when there was a get-together of Team GB Winter Olympians and support staff a few weeks ago.

You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t worried about the North Korea missile situation and what’s going to happen next.

The IOC president has come out this week to say that there is no plan B to move February’s games away from Pyeongchang in South Korea, and we’ve got no option other than to trust him that there isn’t a threat to athletes and spectators.

It’s probably a bit easier for me and all those athletes who were at the last Olympics to detach themselves a bit because I remember that there was so much bad PR about Sochi in the build-up and it ended up being a fantastic games.

Fingers-crossed, it will be the same story this time and things will calm down politically over the next few months.

I know that the British Olympic Association are well-briefed about developments and will continue to keep us in the loop.

Until February, I think I’ll just try to not watch the news!

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You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t worried about the North Korea missile situation

Solid start to season

We’ve moved on to Edmonton for the second of our two weeks in Canada to start the season and we’ve given ourselves a good platform to build on after week one.

Reaching a Grand Slam semi-final on our first outing of the season is no mean feat.

The competition out here is the best in the world, and the couple of losses we did pick up in the group stages were down to an extra end, so we really were close with them too.

Wins against current world champions Rachel Homan and past world champion Alina Patz from Switzerland and others have put us in a good place going into Edmonton. It’s another strong field this week. It was over 30 degrees in Regina, which was bizarre to be curling in, but it’s more like back home in Edmonton – cold and wet.

Scottish men’s team impresses

It has been a stunning start to the new season for a newly-formed Scottish men’s team.

Team Mouat have won back-to-back titles in Canada, with 14 straight wins. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Time will tell if they can keep that form going, because the fact that they have no pressure on them at the moment will definitely help. They’ve got the element of surprise on their side.

There are three other strong men’s teams in Scotland, so to have another one emerge can only be good for the sport in this country.

With a bit of luck they’ll drive each other on and raise their games because of that.

Hopefully the same thing will happen in the ladies ... after I’ve finished playing!

Picture: Getty. There is no plan B to move February’s games away from Pyeongchang in South Korea.