‘Life-changing’ is something you hear a lot when an athlete wins an Olympic gold medal or the biggest prize in their sport.
For me, I know life will change in some ways after what has happened in Beijing but I can assure you it certainly won’t change me as a person.
I guess you could get caught up in it all if you let yourself.
But I’m still just Eve – I don’t want that to change and it won’t.
We’re going to enjoy all the opportunities we’re getting just now because we’ve worked really hard for it and achieved our sporting dreams.
Little things like being invited to Murrayfield on Saturday for the Scotland v France game and getting paraded on the pitch are brilliant.
I did have an inkling of what was coming after all the attention we got from winning our bronze at Sochi eight years ago.
But gold does take things to a whole different level.
Heading home with glasses of bubbly and medals! 🥂🥇🥈! @TeamMouat @BritishCurling #TeamGB #Curling #Olympics pic.twitter.com/7YDSSNeaak
— Team Muirhead (@Team_Muirhead) February 21, 2022
Since we arrived back in London it’s been one thing after another.
As soon as we landed we were taken to The One Show and then put up in The Langham Hotel in the West End.
And from the next morning it was go, go, go with a five o’clock alarm and one breakfast TV and radio show after another.
Omega are one of the big Olympic sponsors and we were kindly taken to their main store and presented with a special edition watch, which was very nice!
Thank you @omegawatches for a wonderful welcome home 😄 📸@mikemarslandphotos #OMEGAOfficialTimekeeper #omegaolympichouse pic.twitter.com/KNh62Uq7wA
— Hailey Duff🐝 (@Haileeeey97) February 22, 2022
It was fantastic to eventually get back to Scotland and catch up with family after basically being cut off from them all since Christmas.
And you know last Sunday’s win was a big deal when you get asked to do a six-page photoshoot for Hello magazine at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh.
All the girls are involved, getting glammed up – a bit different to the last few weeks when it’s been nothing but GB tracksuits!
But the life-changing thing that matters to me most is ticking the last box for me as curler.
It’s the biggest box of them all – becoming an Olympic gold medallist.
It changes the legacy you leave when people are talking about who has done what in the sport.
Nobody can take it away from you.
I think I’ve got a pretty cool story behind it in terms of four Games, four different teams, the bronze medal, the heartbreak in PyeongChang, the hip surgery, the big disappointments over the last couple of years and having to qualify Team GB to get to an Olympics for the first time.
There have been times when I’ve thought about whether to carry on.
I’ve asked myself – is it all worth it?
And I’ve always come up with the answer ‘yes’.
It’s been one of my beliefs that to really enjoy the highs you need to have been at the other end of the spectrum.
That has certainly turned out to be the case.
We’ve all got great individual stories.
Vicky working as nurse through the pandemic, Jen missing out on a medal in the mixed, Hailey with her 100% record in the major international events (gold at the Europeans and Olympics, she’s making it look easy!) and Mili with all the stuff she’s done behind the scenes that has been invaluable, and her family curling story with her dad and brothers.
And if all this publicity raises the profile of curling to a new high in this country, that’s a real legacy to be proud of.
We’ll be at the Scottish mixed doubles next week, which will be back to reality!
I’ve already been asked plenty of times about the next Olympics but I can assure you I’m not looking that far ahead.
Four years is a long time and you need to set yourself shorter-term goals.
I’ve always said it’s not just about the Olympics.
And, even though I’ve now got the gold, I haven’t changed my mind.
Winning the Worlds was amazing – so was the Europeans this season.
Living life between Women's 2-man bobsleigh and Curling 😬😬😬😬
Let's go 🥳🥳🥳🥳 @Team_Muirhead and Team @MicaMcNeill
— Lizzy Yarnold (@LizYarnold) February 18, 2022
It does feel special to have joined Lizzy Yarnold, Torvill and Dean and Jeannette Altwegg as a double Olympic medal winner for Britain, though.
And I must admit, being the first to get a third gives you a bit of food for thought!
I’ve not had the chance to watch the documentary about Rhona Howie’s gold back in 2002 – but I’ve got it recorded.
It is quite freaky how many similarities there are.
The big difference between then and now was that when they finished equal with other nations at the end of the round-robin, they had to play tie-breakers to get into the medal play-offs.
For us it was the draw shot challenge.
There’s a lot of opposition to it in Canada.
#Curling: Canada were eliminated by NINE CENTIMETRES.
When teams have the same record against each other, they go to a draw shot challenge – an unaided stone curled, with the aim to get as close to the centre as possible.
Continued (1/2) #Beijing2022
— Michael Houston (@mick_demarco) February 17, 2022
What I didn’t say in Beijing was my story with the draw shot challenge goes back 12 years.
And not always in a good way!
At my first Olympics at Vancouver, although it wasn’t used to separate teams at the end of the round robin, it was used to decide who got the hammer at the start of games.
I was awful that week!
It was one of the big things that was brought up in the post-Vancouver debrief.
Since then I’ve practiced it a lot. And it’s definitely paid off big time – in the qualifiers and then Beijing.
We’ll not be at the front of the queue for those who are protesting about it right now!
I had hundreds of WhatsApp messages waiting for me when I switched on my phone and social media has been crazy.
I’m going to do my best to reply to as many as I can when things quieten down.
For all the people who have read the column over the last decade and were cheering us on in front of their TVs, thank you so much!
