Eve Muirhead now has “one foot on the plane” to the next Winter Olympics in Sochi after clinching her fourth Scottish curling title at the weekend.
The Perthshire athlete skipped the British team in Vancouver 2010 and is all but certain to get a second chance in Russia next February.
The win at the Dewars Centre in Perth over Hannah Fleming’s team ensured that Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Claire Hamilton and Vicki Adams will be representing Scotland at next month’s World Championships in Latvia.
Olympic selection will be made between July and December and Team Muirhead appear to be cast iron certainties to get the nod for that as well.
The Courier columnist said: “I’d like to think that puts us in pole position for the Olympics and hopefully it’s 99% certain now.
“We’ve got one foot on the plane. Relief is probably the best way of describing Sunday.
“There was a lot of pressure because the winners qualified for the Worlds and the last thing we wanted was another team going there with the chance of winning a medal and stealing our thunder.”
Aged just 22, Muirhead has a long career at the top level stretching out in front of her if she chooses.
And racking up a record number of Scottish titles is a target.
She said: “I’m not sure who’s won the most and how many, but hopefully I can add a few more. That’s four in the last five years and the second in a row for this team.
“Hannah Fleming’s got a good young team so I’m sure we’ll have plenty more battles over the years.
“The next goal is the Worlds. We want to do better than we did last year and it’s an important one for securing funding for next season.”