Eve Muirhead: The Greatest Curling Season?

When you consider where she was one year ago, Scottish skip Eve Muirhead—a veteran at just 32 years of age—may have just completed the greatest curling season achieved by a single athlete.

In the spring of 2021, she had no team to speak of. Her women’s squad had missed the ranking positions needed at the Calgary worlds to qualify Great Britain for the Beijing Olympics, and her team was disbanded by British curling authorities in favor of a selection process.

Different summer and early fall events featured varying players and lineups.

One of those lineups seemed to click, as the team won multiple events and challenge series’ outright, and those new teammates were then formally announced. 

Then came a run of form that was something to behold.

First came a surprise gold at the European Championships.

Then came the top spot (among three) at the Olympic Qualification Event in Leeuwarden.

Next came an incredible Olympic gold medal. 

Gold was secured after a middling 5-4 round-robin record in Beijing and suddenly aggressive, explosive victories in a wild semifinal and overwhelming final.

(A young Scottish squad was selected to represent the nation at the world women’s championship in March, which finished last after multiple players tested positive for COVID-19 and forfeited the competition.)

The icing on the cake came with an undefeated run (11-0) at the recent World Mixed Doubles in Geneva, achieved by Muirhead and partner Bobby Lammie, who has had a tremendous season of his own (men’s Euro gold, men’s Olympic and world silver).

Muirhead and Lammie defeated Switzerland’s Alina Paetz and Sven Michel 9-6, largely on the strength of a huge four-ender to open and the game and a 5-0 lead after two.

The Scots scored two more deuces in the match, overcoming a Swiss steal of two in the sixth end, and Paetz was left with a near-impossible shot to score three and force an extra-end on her last stone of the eighth end.

“Yeah, that’s the set for me,” said Muirhead, acknowledging her unprecedented career quadruple of gold medals in Olympic women’s, world women’s, world mixed and world mixed doubles competition.

She also won word junior gold in 2010.

“I don’t know where I go from here.

“It’s been a phenomenal year for myself and my girls at home as well. To cap it off playing with Bobby was really special. I’m delighted to get another gold medal and I’m sure we’ll enjoy the celebrations tonight.”

“It feels good,” said Lammie. “It hasn’t settled in yet, but the week we’ve had here, it felt like we were controlling everything we were doing, so we’re just delighted today.

“We’ve had a world-ride of a season and to cap it off this way—it’s been a memorable season for Scottish curling.”

Paetz and Michel, who won the mixed doubles crown in 2011, took the silver while Germany’s Pia-Lisa Scholl and Klaudius Harsch defeated Norwegian siblings Maia and Magnus Ramsfjell 7-5 to win the bronze medals.

It was a tough pill for the Norwegians to swallow, after they upset Canada’s Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant in the qualification round and extended the Swiss into a thrilling extra-end in the semifinals.

Canada’s Peterman had made the shot of the week just a day earlier.

Muirhead’s victory concludes her curling season while Lammy will team with his Bruce Mouat men’s foursome for the final Grand Slam event of the season, the Champions Cup in Olds, Alta. which begins on May 3.

Other Geneva competitors heading to Canada include Paetz (she and Silvana Tirinzoni are losing their world champion front end), Peterman (Team Jennifer Jones) and Gallant (Team Brad Gushue) and Sweden’s Rasmus Wraana (Team Niklas Edin).