Curling: Olympic hopefuls head to Canada

Feb 5 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TEAM GB curlers aiming to strike gold at the Winter Olympics have set-up camp in Calgary.

They flew out of London in midweek to begin the countdown to the eagerly-anticipated medal bid at a sold-out Vancouver arena later this month.

There’s strong Perth and Kinross interest but with curling carrying the best hope of a British medal at the Games, competitors are already experiencing unprecedented media attention.

David Murdoch’s men’s rink features local duo Pete Smith and Graeme Connal, while Blair Atholl teenager Eve Muirhead leads the women into action.

There is also an influential Fair City presence on the coaching side of Team GB, with Perth brothers Mike and David Hay joined by Derek Brown in preparing the athletes for a challenge which would eclipse previous medal wins on the world and European stage.

Derek is charged with coaching the women while David has played a major role in honing the men’s challenge over the last 18 months.

Meanwhile, London-based Mike led the advance party to Calgary, having established the base as part of his role as Olympic Performance Manager with the British Olympic Association.

Former top-class player David (47) told PA Sport: “This is the top of the pyramid for the British teams and for the coaches. We are all pretty excited about what lies ahead. But the hard work continues in the build-up to the first game on February 16.

“The teams reaching the final and playing for gold and silver will have played 39 hours of competitive curling. It will be the hardest earned gold of the Games.”

David’s remit includes everything from scouting out the opposition to leading the nine-strong support team pulled together to give the Brits the best possible chance of sucess in Canada.

“It’s pretty much the same role as a football or rugby coach. The remit is to obtain the highest possible Olympic place and I’m convinced these are the best prepared curlers ever to enter a championship.

“I’ve looked at the opposition and we discuss tactics together. There has been great support from the Institute of Sport and the British Olympic Association. Mike and I, along with BOA director of elite performance Sir Clive Woodward, have worked together closely all the way down the line. They couldn’t have been more encouraging.

“The players have had input from various experts in aspects such as strength and conditioning, nutrition, psychology, sports science, sports medicine and performance analysis

“The next week will incorporate more strength and conditioning work, with curling every day. This is the last lap in terms of preparations which have been going on for more than two years now. We have games lined-up against local teams before we face Sweden, the European champions, in our opening game. It’s in at the deep end but there are no freebies at this level.

“Canada, Norway and Britain will start among the favourites but the Chinese, Swiss and Germans are quality teams, while the USA, France and Denmark are capable of beating anyone.

“Getting to this stage has meant a major commitment from the team. I’ve calculated that the five guys will have had 570 gym sessions, pushing 3718 tons along the way.

“There are no guarantees when it comes to Olympic medals but we are going there to give it our best shot.”