Team GB are on the Eve of glory!
HER cool, calculated approach to the sport of curling has earned her the nickname the ‘Ice Maiden’.
But even Eve Muirhead was unable to contain her emotions yesterday after firing the British ladies through to the Olympic semi-finals in South Korea.
Miss Muirhead, 27, jumped into the air after pulling off a brilliantly weighted ‘pistol shot’, knocking away two point-scoring stones from their Canadian rivals.
Britain’s four-strong women’s team had been trailing reigning champions Canada yesterday until the crucial stone was cast with their captain’s characteristic inscrutable stare.
The Perth-born curling star completed the unlikely four-stone cannon – effectively a long-range plant – which took out both of her opponents’ stones and turned the tide in favour of the British team.
The team then produced a flawless final end to secure a 6-5 victory that puts them on the brink of matching their bronze medal-winning exploits of four years ago.
Afterwards, Miss Muirhead said: ‘It came at a pretty clinical time. Apparently I jumped up there.
‘I’m just glad I landed with both feet firmly on the ice and not flat on my face. What a great team performance out there – it showed we do have a lot of determination and patience and I’m really delighted to get that semi-final spot.’
Miss Muirhead is skip of the all-Scottish Team GB curling team, alongside Anna Sloan and Vicki Adams, who both live in Stirling, and Glasgow-born Lauren Gray.
Her father Gordon was a former world champion, who competed at the Olympics when it was just a demonstration sport.
Two of her brothers – Thomas and Glen, 22 and 28 – are also competing at Pyeongchang at their first Olympics for the men’s team.
Miss Muirhead is also a talented golfer, playing at one time off scratch – she now plays off three – and could have attended university in the US after being offered a scholarship. She has also competed at four world bagpiping championships.
Her decision to stay with curling was quickly rewarded, with the Scot winning an unprecedented four gold medals at junior World Championships before being fasttracked into the Team GB system. She has skippered the last three Winter Olympics.
In the Vancouver Games of 2010 she famously snapped her broom on the ice when her team failed to make it to the medal matches. If the rigours of top-level sport have taken their toll on her social life, she doesn’t seem to mind.
She is currently single, admitting recently when asked about relationships: ‘I’ m afraid I just don’t have time.
‘I’ve pretty much dedicated my life to curling, haven’t I? But that’s fine. It’s what I do and I love it.’
The British women’s curling team will face Sweden tomorrow.
The route to gold is most likely to be blocked by the so-called ‘Garlic Girls’ of South Korea, who have rock star status in the host nation. The country did not even have a team until the 2014 Games.
The four girls come from the same school in the town of Uiseong, where there are dozens of garlic farms.