I’m well used to the clock ticking down to a Winter Olympics at this time of year.
That early January feeling came round four times for me.
I’ve got another Games on the horizon – I’ll be back in Team GB kit, only this time I’ll be leaving the curling to others.
It’s a real privilege to be the chef de mission for the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics.
With less than 10 days to go for #Gangwon2024, the IOC headquarters in @Olympic_Capital are also basking in the glow of winter ❄️
The team inside is preparing for the Winter Youth Olympic Games @gangwon2024, which start on 19 January in the Republic of Korea. pic.twitter.com/0wRuuAVKUN
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) January 10, 2024
Back in February the BOA were interested to know what my next steps were going to be after retirement and thought I would be well-suited to the role.
They were looking to get more former athletes involved in the organisation.
The BOA have always been so good to me and I was delighted to accept.
For me to have Mike Hay as the chef de mission at a couple of Olympics and depute at another was great.
He was a relatable role model back then given his curling and Perthshire background and he’s been a help for me recently now that I’m behind the scenes.
It’s a part-time position but everything has cranked up over the last two or three months and I’ve spent a lot of time in London.
I’ve absolutely loved it.
Different perspective
Seeing how things work on the other side is something I got more and more interested in as my career progressed.
Discovering all the detail and preparation that goes into selections, appeals, nominating teams to the IOC, sorting out kit and a whole load of other things has been an eye-opener.
If an athlete is oblivious to all that, it shows how good a job people behind the scenes have done.
As a competitor you have your blinkers on and all the dirty work is done for you.
Now I’m part of that dirty work!
The media stuff I’ve done over the years has helped.
When you’re at an Open on the other side of the ropes, you get an appreciation of the scale of a big sporting event.
A good way of describing my contribution to Team GB at these Games is that something like a bus being on time to take athletes to their venue is a job for the team behind me.
But it’s my job to make sure that the athletes have everything they need on that bus.
We had the athletes’ assembly in London just before Christmas.
I spoke about what to expect and because it’s a younger group, there were things like curfews that never came up in the main Olympics!
It was great to meet the majority of the athletes, the coaches and the team leaders.
Seeing the reaction when they get their kit was priceless.
They get as much of it as you would for a full-scale Olympics.
A Youth Olympics is an incredible opportunity for some athletes to take the next step on the road to the big one.
I’d have loved it but it only started in 2012 and by that time I’d been to my first Games in Vancouver.
Dreams fulfilled
You have to remember that most of the team won’t get as high as a full Winter Olympics.
And if this turns out to be the pinnacle of their sporting career, that’s a huge thing in itself.
They’re representing Britain in a world event.
Congratulations to Eve Muirhead who will lead Team GB at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games
🗣️ "It is a real privilege to be able to prepare and support athletes in what for many will be their first taste of an Olympic environment."@gangwon2024 | @evemuirhead
— Team GB (@TeamGB) March 13, 2023
This was their dream from a young age – to be part of a GB team.
Not everybody will come away with a medal or even hit the performance level that they hope for in Gangwon.
That’s sport.
But if I help them into position whereby they have the best shot at those two things and they get everything out of the experience that they’d dreamt of, then I’ll be able to think I’ve done a good job.
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