WINTER OLYMPICS SPECIAL ICE KING KYLE EYES A MEDAL
Waddell has team spirit ahead of Pyeongchang 2018
Hamilton curler Kyle Waddell hopes that team spirit can help him and his mates reach the pinnacle of the sport by earning a medal at the Winter Olympics.
Team Smith will represent GB at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang in February, in which Waddell is second, joined by Kyle Smith (skip), Thomas Muirhead (3rd), Cammy Smith (lead) and alternative Glen Muirhead.
The Muirheads are part of that famous family, with Eve skipping the women’s team in South Korea.
Team Smith have the benefit of having been together for some time, coming through the junior set-up where they were Scottish champions for three years in a row and won bronze, gold and silver at the World Junior Championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively.
In 2013 they Universiade.
This year they have already demonstrated their talent on tour in Canada, where they won silver at the World became the first British team to reach a Grand Slam final in Cranbrook.
Kyle (23), who on Monday jetted for a threeweek tour of Canada, including the Tour Challenge Grand Slam event, said: “We’ve been a team for five or six years, and there are not many teams who will be at the Olympics who will have that experience in their team.
“We know how to deal with each other, and how each player operates, and we’ve been playing for a long time.
“I started curling when I was eight, played through the juniors and we won the World Junior Championships as a team.
“The championships we have won have been at junior level and every time you take part in an event like that you learn something and better yourself.
“Now it’s time that was buried and that we moved on as a team, so onwards and upwards.
“We’re a young team, we don’t have a lot of experience at that level, but we’ve won a lot.
“To win a medal at the Winter Olympics, representing Team GB, would be the pinnacle of our sport – I think any athlete would tell you that.
“You really have to make the most of your opportunities, it would be great to win a medal, and hopefully curling gets a boost at the same time. It gets a lot of publicity during the Winter Olympics that it just doesn’t get at other times.
“To win a medal would be a great achievement and one of our main goals. We will do everything we can to make it happen.”
The team will train at the new National Curling Academy in Stirling, as well as attending competitions in Europe and Asia, as well as the tour of Canada.
Mum Mary said: “It’s great and it’s a proud moment that Kyle has been selected for Team GB. It’s amazing. Kyle has worked hard and deserves this.
“He has also qualified for the European Championships in St Gallen, Switzerland in November, so it’s a very busy year, but it’s also very exciting.”