Evey and Vicky in Mixed Doubles Curling Return

They’re back, and doubling down on two-player curling.

Eve Muirhead and her Olympic champion third Vicky Drummond are both out of retirement and targeting mixed doubles for their exclusive return to the ice wars. 

Both athletes aim to qualify for the next Winter Olympics in France and will be battling each other to represent Great Britain.

“It’s a bit of a surprise for a lot of people, I think,” Muirhead told me, shortly after her initial bombshell announcement.

“But it’s exciting, really exciting. I most definitely needed a break away and I’m excited to to dust off the shoes again and play mixed doubles.”

Muirhead will reunite with Team Mouat second Bobby Lammie in the mixed doubles discipline. The pair joined forces shortly after the 2022 Beijing Olympics to compete at the world championship in Geneva; they won that titled, capping a stunning year for Muirhead, who retired a few months later.

“I think in the team game, I’ve kind of accomplished what I set out to do in terms of winning worlds, winning Olympics, but I think mixed doubles, even winning the world championships but I’m still kind of missing something there,” said Evey. “So myself and Bobby are back together for the cycle.

“What is is really exciting is British Curling have kind of opened their arms to have me back, if you know what I mean. I think it’s a really exciting time for them, myself and Vicky, who is also returning.”

Well, of course the British (and Scottish) curling worlds are going to welcome Eve and Vicky with open arms, right?

“It’s been about three weeks and it’s good to back,” said Drummond, who won gold with Muirhead (as Vicky Wright) and retired three months before her skip.

“I definitely have missed it. It’s funny… when I stopped in 2022, I thought that was it, done. And then 2024 lit a bit of a spark in me ’cause I started coaching a young girls’ team. And then I had to be at the Olympics for BBC. I was like, oh, I really want to play.”

Drummond will team with Euan Kyle, the lead for the new men’s fours squad skipped by Grant Hardie.

“(This will be) fun, it’s a laugh a minute out there,” enthused Drummond. “He is one of the best partners I could ask for, in terms of teammates. He’s got all the qualities and just makes you feel like a million dollars.”

Drummond, who has a young daughter and is still an intensive care nurse, went to the same primary school as Kyle – and both hail from the same curling club.

Muirhead and Drummond (and Lammie and Kyle) will have their first formal battle in early October, at the Scottish Mixed Doubles Championships in Aberdeen.

Let’s give the last word to Muirhead.

“I’ve had a full-time job working with the British Olympic Association and during this time I’ve realized that I have really missed it,” she said. 

“I have been on ice the last couple of weeks. Yesterday I was throwing stones and at one point I was just like, you know, I really have missed this.

“And I think when that hits you, you realize that you do kind of belong here, surrounded in that kind of elite athlete environment, and the professional support services. It just kind of brought back a lot of great memories, but also really excited me and motivated me to go forward.”