Canada key to Scottish skip’s success

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2021 (1937 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eve Muirhead’s been everywhere, man — in Canada.

She’s been to: Brantford, Lethbridge, Vernon, Truro, Selkirk, Yorkton, Edmonton, Oakville, Regina, Brockville, Calgary, Summerside, Portage la Prairie, Toronto, Lloydminster, North Bay, Winnipeg, Swift Current, Cornwall, Saskatoon, Okotoks, Sault Ste. Marie, Medicine Hat, Abbotsford.

Yep, just like Johnny Cash sang, she’s been everywhere.

The sensational Scottish curler has made dozens of trips across the pond over the last decade, conceding she’s likely more recognizable in the true north strong and free than she is in her home and native land.

“I don’t even remember how many times I’ve been to Canada, no idea. That tells you something, doesn’t it,” Muirhead told the Free Press, earlier this week. “I reckon I’ve been to Canada four or five times a season, and that’s been the last 10 years.

“I love Canada, and especially the Manitoba area. It’s actually one of my favourite spots because it’s such a curling community. Whenever you compete there, so many people know who you are and are so warm and friendly. They know the sport so well, and that makes such a difference when you are competing and there’s people watching that have so much knowledge about the sport.”

Except the last 12 months when no one’s watched much of anything in person, owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic. And the disappointing trend continues at the spectator-free 2021 world women’s curling championship, inside the Calgary bubble.

Muirhead is making her ninth appearance (eighth as a skip) at the event. Her team of third Vicky Wright, second Jennifer Dodds and lead Lauren Gray is based primarily in Stirling, about 40 km northeast of Glasgow.

The foursome failed to reach the playoffs in two Grand Slam of Curling tour events earlier this month at WinSport Arena, however, that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of the skip of the world’s No. 9-ranked team.

“I’m so glad to be here in Canada and starting a championship and playing a sport that I love,” she said. “We were very lucky to train as much as we did in Stirling on the same ice for several months. We did put on a few domestic tournaments back home to get some games under our belt. But it’s not the same as packing up to fly away and play against the world’s best.

“I’m super nervous but just excited to get onto the ice and compete with Scotland on my back. Every time you step onto the ice, you do get the competitive juices, you do get the nerves. But it’s a time to really pull together as a team and realize this is something special.”

The Scottish crew was among a contingent in Prince George, B.C., a year ago when the world championship was scrapped. Muirhead returned home and headed straight into lockdown, which became months of solitary confinement for the single pro athlete.

“It was tougher than I thought it would be,” said Muirhead. “Being on my own was very difficult. It’s hard to remember what I did because it all seems a bit of a blur. My mom and dad are an hour-and-a half north, and, looking back, if I’d known lockdown was going to continue in Scotland for so long, I should have gone up there and stayed for the duration. But who could know it would be such a long process.

“Looking back, I’d probably make some different decisions. I’m just glad I’m on the other side of it. I think of it as a kind of challenge conquered.”

Just 31 as of nine days ago, Muirhead has packed a lot in since she started tossing mini-rocks at the tender age of six, under the watchful eye of her father, Gordon, a former world champion as an alternate (1999) and three-time runner-up.

She was only four when dad earned a silver medal after falling to Winnipeg’s Kerry Burtnyk in the 1995 world men’s final in Brandon.

The world title win in 2013, Olympic bronze a year later in Sochi, multiple European championship victories — she has packed a lot in.

Her own resume speaks for itself. She remains the youngest skip (22) to capture a world crown (2013), downing Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson in the final in Riga, Latvia, and won a bronze medal at the Sochi Olympics a year later after losing to eventual winner Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones in the semifinals.

Muirhead has also claimed multiple European women’s championship victories, five Grand Slam tour wins and a remarkable four world junior women’s titles.

While she’s a heck of a golfer and plays a mean set of bagpipes, curling is Muirhead’s full-time career. Lately, it’s begun to dawn on her that cheques from the Scottish federation and from winning events around the world will one day stop coming in.

“I’m not getting any younger,” she said with a laugh, from her Calgary hotel room.

“I wasn’t the most academically driven person in school. I was only interested in playing sports the whole time. But it’s hard being a full-time athlete. Your money depends on your results. That makes it hard when you’re paying for a mortgage, a car, and just paying to live.

“Even sponsorship back home can be a struggle. It’s a tough gig but I absolutely love it and I wouldn’t trade it. This is the dream and you make sacrifices to do it,” she added.

Muirhead admitted her sights are clearly set on a fourth opportunity to compete at the Winter Olympics, set for 2022 in Beijing. It’s key the squad finishes in the top six in Calgary, to solidify a spot for Great Britain.

Officials there would have an easy decision to send the Muirhead team as its representative.

She’s out for redemption, after falling to eventual gold-medal winner Anna Hasselborg of Sweden in the semifinals in Pyeongchang in 2018 and then missing a chance for a second career bronze medal with a defeat to Satsuki Fujisawa of Japan.

“Me being the competitor I am, I keep wanting to do more. I know I need to take time to reflect back, to take time to think about what you’ve achieved, and not always thinking about what you didn’t. Celebrate the good times as well,” Muirhead said.

“I’ve got one main medal missing in my collection, and that’s the Olympic gold. So, let’s give Beijing a good go.”

Scotland had a successful launch Friday, downing the United States 10-6 in the morning. Muirhead was also on the late draw against Japan.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell