Scotland’s tight-knit curling community on Friday pledged to come back stronger after their Olympians saw their chance of a gold medal evaporate in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The women’s team were defeated by Sweden in the semi-final. The men’s team were knocked out earlier.
Curling is literally part of the Scottish landscape.
Photo: AFP
The 20kg stones that glide towards icy targets around the world are exclusively carved from a tiny volcanic rock off Scotland’s west coast.
The world’s oldest curling stone inscribed with the date 1511 was found in a drained lake in Dunblane, birthplace of Scottish tennis ace Andy Murray.
Scottish players dominate the British Olympic teams with siblings Eve, Glen and Thomas Muirhead forming the cornerstone of the men’s and ladies’ British teams — and for them curling is in the blood.
Their dad, Gordon, is a former World Champion and still plays professionally at home.
He was competing in the Scottish Seniors championship while his girl was taking on Sweden at the Olympics, and he finished his heats just in time to rush off to watch his daughter’s valiant performance.
“I’m from a curling family,” he told reporters at Braehead Curling Rink, in Glasgow. “My father curled, my grandfather curled, my uncle was twice world silver medalist and so it just passed down, it was just a natural thing to do.”
“I started by going to watch my father curling. My kids got dragged along to the ice rinks when I was playing and I used to play quite competitively a lot, so it was just something that they were always going to do,” Gordon Muirhead said.
“The whole profile has been upped... because the Olympics is just enormous. They’re pushing it and I know the commentators on TV are pushing it to try and get folk to come and try. A lot of the ice rinks are doing come and try sessions. It’s a game that you can play from seven to 70,” he added.
The Muirhead clan are keen to broaden curling’s appeal, not only beyond their own family, but also south of the border in England, where it remains a niche sport.
“There’s only one facility in England just now and that’s in Kent, and hopefully we’ll get more facilities down in England,” Gordon Muirhead said.
“We’ve got 20 to 25 curling facilities in Scotland so we’re not too bad. Nobody is hours away from a curling facility, so hopefully we get a few more down in England and get a bit of interest,” he added.
Curling fans on Friday flocked to Braehead in their droves to watch the action taking place both at home — and more than 8,000km away on television.
“I think the girls will be absolutely gutted after losing that game. I know how much work they all put in.” said Susan Kesley, a curler who plays at Murrayfield Curling Rink in Edinburgh.
“I hope with the amount of really good television coverage we’ve had, it will bring people into the sport and that’s what we would like, getting more young people turning up at the ice rinks to come and try it,” Kesley added.
“I see no reason why they cannot continue on, especially the men’s team as well, because they’re quite young and they’ve a long way to go yet, so the future is good for Scottish curling,” said Keith Prentice, former World Championship winning curler.
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