Eve Muirhead: Winter Olympics gold medallist to come out of retirement as she aims for more glory in 2030 | Olympics News

There have always been comebacks in sport, but some are more unexpected than others especially after a speedy and successful transition to another career.

Especially someone like Eve Muirhead, the gold-medal winning curling skip for Team GB at the 2022 Winter Olympics at Beijing.

Curling is one of those peculiar sports that gets very little attention for four years, but then the British public become experts for two weeks during the Olympics and Muirhead has been part of that curling story and success for sometime ever since she qualified for her first Olympics aged 20 in 2010.

A bronze medal followed in 2014, heartbreak in 2018 when Team GB should have probably won the gold, but somehow came fourth and then finally in 2022 the ultimate glory of taking Olympic gold.

Job done, exhaustion. Nothing more to prove. Retirement.

Still young at just 32 years of age when she retired, Muirhead is a driven individual. As an athlete she’d watched those in positions of administration for Team GB who look after everything there is to do to make a British team successful and that ambition, determination had been spotted.

In 2024 – just two years after her sporting retirement – she was appointed to lead Team at the Winter Youth Olympics, perhaps no surprise there, but after that success she was appointed Chef de Mission of the Team for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics. That was a surprise to many.

That role is traditionally taken on by someone much older and who has had experiences of running a team at a major Games, but no Muirhead had something unique and just four years after winning an Olympic gold she was to be leading the entire Team at an Olympics.

But… there was an itch that needed to be scratched. A ‘sporting’ itch. She wasn’t done with her sporting career even though in 2022 she had initially called time on her curling days. She’d won Olympic gold with the women’s team (a team of 4) but she did not have a mixed doubles Gold. That’s the complete set and that is why Muirhead intends to be at the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps to put that right.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Muirhead said: “The opportunity was there and I feel like that kind of the fire’s re-lit. I think I want to prove that you can take a break and come back, for women especially, you can go away, you can have families, you can come back to sport, you can relocate, you can also start another career.

“I got that Olympic gold medal. It was hard work. A lot of different teams a lot of changes, different coaches, but I feel like in mixed doubles there’s a big opportunity. I also feel like I’ve got a little bit of unfinished business there.

“I wasn’t selected for Beijing for the mixed doubles, came back, won the nationals, and went on and won the World Championships alongside Bobby (Lammie) so we know we’re a really, really good partnership, but I feel like I’ve still got something I kind of want to prove there.”

Following in the footsteps of Williams and Vonn

After retiring from the sport in 2022, Muirhead made some big changes in her life none more so than relocating to the North West of England from Scotland. It was a new chapter along with a new career, but the changing landscape and attitudes towards women who had taken time away from elite sport has steadily been altering.

While there are still many barriers for female athletes who decide to take a break and perhaps return later, Muirhead cited inspiration from Serena Wiliams and the equally legendary skier Lindsey Vonn. For differing reasons both made decisions to retire from their sports at the peak of their powers, but after a period of time away both have returned.

Along with many other female athletes who have followed similar paths, Muirhead felt she could now do the same and comeback to elite level sport after time away.

“I think it wasn’t even possible when I retired. I never thought that I could maybe step back and in four years’ time (comeback),” she added.

“Now I think the opportunities are becoming more and more. For women especially I think it’s something that was overlooked a little bit decades ago, but I think now you’ve got to realise that some females are coming back even stronger.

“That’s probably what the biggest part of it is, they’re going away, having kids, having families, relocating as I say, even starting different careers. It maybe just sparks something and makes them even more determined to prove that it is possible to do it.”

Why make a comeback?

Muirhead explained why though in 2022 she had to step away: “I needed the break.

“I’m really glad that I took the time off and just stepped away from this. I could count on one hand the amount of stones that I threw from my retirement in the last three and a half years, but I know as a person I needed to do that.

“What I learnt was time away brings you back to be stronger, brings you back to be more determined. It also makes you a little bit more relaxed, perhaps maybe not the right word but maybe not as much pressure on your shoulders.

“I think you know what you’ve been through to get to the very top of your sport was hard. I’ve done that and now I know what to expect to go forward.”

There is one part of the make-up of any top, top sportsman or women which tends to set them apart – an addiction to competition and winning. Why make a comeback otherwise?

Although Muirhead was the ultimate diplomate when I asked the question: “So, you’re coming back to win gold aren’t you?” She replied… with a broad smile: “I’m most definitely going back there to push hard for number one to get selected. Of course. It’s going to be a tough road to even get selected for the Games… It’s going to be tough to get there, but of course that’s the dream.

“To get back to the Games… We’ll see what the next few years goes, but I’ll definitely give it my all.”