‘Eve Muirhead, former curler’ is going to take a while to sink in but I’m 100% sure that I’ve made the right decision to retire.
When I do something, I have to give it my all.
There are no half-measures.
As a curler who works in Olympic cycles, I know that I would have struggled to give absolutely everything for four more years.
This would have been my fifth one and I didn’t want to start it not knowing I’d have the burning desire to see it all the way through.
That’s not me.
Looking back, there were two lightbulb moments.
After winning the World Mixed Doubles in my last ever event, I wanted the chance to devote myself to that side of the game from now on.
Eve Muirhead doing Eve Muirhead things.
Beijing heroes @bobby_lammie7 & @evemuirhead are four wins from four at the World Mixed Doubles Championships 🥌🙌 pic.twitter.com/bSR7gIHBb4
— Team GB (@TeamGB) April 25, 2022
But unfortunately there wasn’t an option when I first asked.
That was when the big lightbulb came on.
Before that there had been a smaller one.
When we had a really bad World Championships in Calgary last year, which meant Britain hadn’t qualified automatically for the Olympics, everyone went completely silent on me.
That’s apart from my family, close friends and a few other people who helped me pull things back together.
I’m bowing out on such a high as a European, World and Olympic champion but that was a pretty brutal experience.
I know this is the right time.
British Curling is on a high, and even though I’m playing as well as ever and my body isn’t screaming at me to stop, I don’t want to continue just to tick a box.
Three important people from our gold medal team have already left – Vicky Wright, Mili Smith and our coach Kristian Lindstrom.
I don’t know what the programme teams will look like but it’s going to be a new generation coming through and there are no guarantees.
It was quite scary to think ‘how will we build this back up again?’
I was one of the last from my generation of curlers.
When people leave the sport who are a similar age to me, it gets harder and harder to keep going.
A four-year cycle is a long time and I’d be back at the bottom of the mountain.
I’m not sure I’d have the motivation to start climbing it again.
It’s the right time for me to step away and the right time for others to do things their way.
I’m looking forward to sitting back and seeing what the future holds for British and Scottish Curling.
Legacy
I’d like to think I’ve left a legacy that they can build on.
We’ll see what I miss the most over the next few months and years but I think it will be the competition rather than the actual curling.
I can’t say I’ll miss the day in, day out training at the National Curling Academy.
There are no shortcuts and you don’t get on to podiums without putting in the hours.
I’ve had plenty of those moments to give me memories for life, though.
🗣️ 'I was classed as a housewife with a broom in 2002… Look what happened.' 🥇
Rhona Howie and Eve Muirhead, Winter Olympic curling gold medallists 20 years apart, have words of inspiration for women in sport. ⤵️🥌#iwd2022 pic.twitter.com/4xRa36sUNt
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) March 8, 2022
I think I’ve got 25 medals and they all have stories of blood, sweat and tears behind them.
The people who I’ve become friends with across the world through curling will still be my friends, of course.
But it’s time for me to take a step back from the sport and enjoy life away from it.
Curling is all I’ve ever known.
Future plans
I’m not jumping into a new career just yet!
I’ve loved the bits of TV and radio work I’ve done this summer and I’m sure I’ll be involved with curling again in the future.
No doubt, I’ll be back in the Super League with my brothers and doing stuff at Dunkeld Curling Club!
There won’t be any regrets.
I’ve had a couple of weeks to get used to it and I won’t be changing my mind!
Not one person close to me has been unsure about the decision.
Being a spectator at the Commonwealth Games gave me the final confirmation.
I loved being on the other side.
I’m here at the Commonwealth Games, cycling for @comicrelief and the @Womens_Scottish pro-am
My weekly column 👇 @thecourieruk @thecouriersport https://t.co/Pd8JKb8JCx
— Eve Muirhead OBE (@evemuirhead) July 29, 2022
I’ve put myself down for a duathlon and I’ll be entering the London Marathon at some point.
Who knows what else.
I’m stepping into the unknown but I’m excited about a new chapter in my life!
Eve Muirhead: 10 special pictures that tell inside story of Perthshire curler’s life and career
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