The gold ball and chain
Vicky out to trump her hubbie’s Sochi silver
CURLING sensation Vicky Wright is dreaming of top trumping fiance Greg Drummond – by pinning an Olympic gold above his silver at their house next week.
The Stirling-based nurse will get her shot at a Beijing bonanza tonight as GB’s women face Japan with the mother of all medals on the line.
It took nerves of steel from Eve Muirhead’s crew to dump out holders Sweden 12-11 in a semi-final scorefest yesterday that went to a sudden-death extra end.
But with silver secure at the very least, Wright’s got an extra incentive to depart China as a golden girl.
She said: “I want to go one better than Greg’s silver in Sochi 2014.
“Before I came out, I said to him I would go out there and come back with gold, and get the bragging rights back in the house.
“He has had them for eight years. I think it is time I got them back.”
Wright will be cheered on in the final by her staff colleagues on the critical care ward at Forth Valley Hospital who threw her a leaving party when she jetted off.
Coping with dealing with hardcore Covid patients during lockdown is a breeze compared to curling, she claimed.
And she said: “We were on a surgical ward but we turned into Covid during it and pretty much the full hospital at different points had Covid, so we had Covid patients as well.
“It was that attitude that you all muck in and get on with it – and that was how it has been.
“It makes you appreciate life, it really does.”
It helped her keep calm when the Scots nearly missed out on the Games after slumping to eighth at last year’s world championships before rebuilding and making the most of their second chance.
And their semi stunner completed a perfect redemption for skip Eve who bagged bronze in 2014 and then came fourth in Korea four years ago – when Japan nabbed the final spot on the podium.
And she said: “I’ve got almost every gold medal apart from the Olympic gold medal. It’s always been a dream of mine.
“Of course there have been times when you doubt whether you’ll be back and get that chance to play for that gold.
“As a team we’ve come from different teams, not even qualifying for the spot here, you get home and sometimes you want to throw your shoes in the cupboard and carry on doing something else.
“But we learned a lot from that – we stood up tall, we fought for our spots here.
“We showed we’ve got so much talent as a team, we’ve got so much drive and fight, and it’s an absolute dream come true.”
And they’re not done yet, admits Vicky, who reckons it will be all Wright on the night.
The 28-year-old said: “We are here to win. We are here to enjoy it. We have enjoyed it.
“We have realised that if we enjoy it, we have always performed better.
“We are enjoying every game that we are playing.
“We want gold. We will try our best with the same intent. If it comes off, that is great.”