Olympic champion Eve Muirhead has decided to retire from the sport of curling. The 32-year-old reached the pinnacle when she captained the Team GB side to glory at the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year. She added the coveted gold medal to the bronze she won Sochi eight years ago.
Muirhead and co produced a remarkable turnaround after they looked set to miss out on a place in Beijing after making a poor start in the final qualification tournament. After capturing further titles at the world, European and Scottish championship levels over a glittering career that spanned over 15 years, the star athlete has decided to move on to the next chapter of her life.
“After 15 years of international curling and 21 international titles I have made the hardest decision of my life to hang up my curling shoes and retire,” Muirhead said in a post on social media. “Throughout my career and like most athletes, I have experienced both the highest of the highs, (becoming an Olympic champion) and the lowest of lows and at times the future seemed very distant. It’s been an emotional journey, but a journey that I am incredibly proud of.
“Behind every athlete is a team and I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best and therefore there are many thanks to be made. I can’t thank everyone here, but will do so individually I hope over the coming weeks.”
“Being skip and representing Team Muirhead, Great Britain and Scotland over the years has been a real honour, and one I have never taken for granted,” she added. “Retiring from curling as a current European, world and Olympic champion is something I always dreamt off, and I am signing off with a huge smile on my face. With regards to what’s next – I am looking forward to exploring more opportunities and getting my golf clubs out, but watch this space!”
Muirhead had the incredible honour of receiving an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list earlier this year to add to an MBE from 2020. British Curling performance director Nigel Holl paid tribute to the former curler and regarded her as one of the greatest UK sportswomen in history.
“Eve Muirhead will go down in history not only as one of the greatest ever British curlers, but as one of the greatest sportswomen this country has produced,” he said. "The attitude that has allowed Eve to claim every honour in her sport with a wide array of team mates over four Olympic cycles could not have been better exemplified than in the way she responded to the greatest challenge of her career.”
Holl added: “From the disappointment of missing out on automatic qualification for the Beijing Olympics, she became an integral figure in the rebuilding process which brought about an extraordinary run of success including winning her third European title on her way to skipping Team GB to gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics. It was a turn-around which only the most robust of competitors could have achieved and, as a wonderful ambassador for our sport, she deserves all the tributes that she will most certainly receive on announcing her decision to retire from our sport.”
Muirhead sent a special shoutout to all her teammates by thanking them 'from the bottom of her heart' in addition to the funding received from the National Lottery and UK Sport for the British Curling and Scottish Curling programmes. SportScotland chief executive Stewart Harris marvelled at Muirhead's “unparalleled” contribution to curling in Scotland.
“Eve’s 11 gold medals in Olympic Games, World Championships and European Championships are a true testament to her dedication to curling over the years,” he said. “Eve is a fantastic role model, through her passion for the sport and her drive to see more people across the country stepping onto a rink and participating in curling.”
Muirhead also had words of encouragement for the next generation of curlers who will seek to emulate her achievements. “My message to up and coming curlers is give it your all. I don’t think anyone who cuts corners or takes short cuts makes it to the top,” she urged. “It is a team of four and you have to be in it as much as each other and I think team dynamics is huge and you have to get on both on and off the ice. One thing that is important is that you have to enjoy it and have a laugh along the way, but you also have to trust each other as well and have respect for one another.”
