Ice-cool curler Bruce Mouat insists he will not wilt in the heat of Beijing battle as he prepares to serve up a slice of British Olympic history.
Mouat and Jennifer Dodds will become the first ever Team GB curlers to compete in the mixed doubles event on Wednesday when they clash with Sweden in one of the first event of the Games.
Mouat, 27, and Dodds, 30, were crowned world champions in the discipline last year and arrive in the Chinese capital as one of Britain’s chief medal hopes after a searing year on the circuit.
The Scots have been diligently surveying their surroundings in the Chinese capital and reckon keeping calm under pressure can fire them to glory this weekend.
Mouat, who takes to the ice at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre at 12:05pm UK-time on Wednesday, said: "I think that the fact that we have been out here for a few days settling in is going to help us when we get in to the curling because we have already distracted ourselves with all the Olympic things that you can do.
"Fortunately, we know most of the opposition that we are going to come up against and we have played them in a number of mixed doubles events.
“We know that we have to play well throughout the event to be able to stand on the podium, but I think that the feeling we have got right now is just pure excitement about just getting going now and we are itching to get on the ice and start competing."
Dodds, a lifelong friend of Mouat after meeting at Edinburgh’s Gogar Park Curling Club, added: "It is a real honour to be the first Brits to have a chance at the curling double.
"We went and visited the venue and it looked incredible and I don't think the pictures do it justice even, like the huge screen showing the houses.
“Going there made us feel more comfortable and the ice pad is looking great."
Mouat and Dodds will also compete in the men’s and women’s competitions in Beijing, where Team GB have another serious shot at medalling after bagging bronze and silver at Sochi 2014.
Both teams - spearheaded by Mouat and 2014 Olympic bronze medallist Eve Muirhead - were crowned European champions in Lillehammer at the end of last year and arrive at the Games in red-hot form.
But it’s the mixed doubles format that occupies their initial Olympic attention as Team GB take on the Swedes this lunchtime.
‘Chess on ice’ has a habit of capturing the hearts of the public every four years and has enjoyed a cherished national status since Rhona Martin’s storied ‘Stone of Destiny’ fired Britain to gold at Salt Lake City 2002.
That triumph marked Team GB’s first Olympic gold medal since Torvill and Dean waltzed their way to figure skating perfection in Sarajevo and Dodds believes she can follow in their footsteps almost four decades on.
“We know the standard we can play at and at the same time everyone else does as well," added Dodds, whose exploits at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre will be broadcast live on discovery+ , Eurosport and Eurosport app.
"They need to come out and play really well to beat us and we know we need to keep playing at the high level that we know we can.
“So, I don’t feel that we have any additional pressure - it is just that we have to keep doing what we do well and not really think about the opposition. If we just keep playing our game that's our most important thing.
“We know that we have put a lot of hard work into the mixed doubles and the men's and women's event and doing it as world whamps I think is a good thing.”
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