We were very confident that the group of five who won the European Championships and secured Team GB’s spot at the Olympics would be the same five who got selected for Beijing.
But until you get official confirmation, you can never 100% take it for granted.
It’s happened to me four times now and being told you’re going to be an Olympian will never lose its sparkle.
4th Winter Olympic Games…. And can’t wait! 😀 https://t.co/tIAuUOJBcQ
— Eve Muirhead MBE (@evemuirhead) December 23, 2021
It’s such a proud moment.
I’m thinking back to how different this one is to my selection for Pyeongchang.
Nothing will ever top that in terms of a family moment.
My two brothers were chosen for the men’s team, which was unbelievably special.
And it was a photographer’s dream to get us all down to the Highland Show in Edinburgh for the photocall!
To think that was in the summer, maybe about eight months before the Games, and this time it’s nearly Christmas and we’re less than two months away.
What a contrast.
First to last
From being one of the first to be selected for Team GB, I’m now one of the last.
That’s definitely not a bad thing.
It’s always been in the back of my mind that the Canadian process of leaving their selection tournament pretty late has given their winning teams an advantage.
The number of golds they’ve won would tend to back that up.
On this occasion we’re even later than Jennifer Jones and, like in Canada, we’ve been playing some strong teams under intense pressure.
I’m going home for Christmas and then the time will fly by until we’re heading out to Beijing.
For obvious reasons, there will be a lot of differences.
We’re going to be going into a holding camp in lodges just outside Stirling so it will be a bubble for everybody heading out to Beijing.
And then there’s a chartered flight into China – if you’re not on that one, you’re not going!
It’s as simple as that.
Another big difference will be no family or friends being allowed to come out with us.
My mum, dad and uncle have followed me to my previous three Games so it goes without saying they’re disappointed to miss out on this one.
But we’re all used to the sacrifices we have to make by now.
And as competitors, we’re lucky that we’re in a team sport and we’ve all got each other as support.
This is as tight a group as I’ve been involved with and we’ll all be looking out for each other on and off the ice.
Kitting out
We’ve still got the kitting out day to look forward to in the new year.
Instead of London, I think this time it’s happening in Dundee for us.
That will be such a buzz for the other girls who haven’t done it before.
Team GB do something different each time and I’m sure it will be as fun as it always is.
I’ve had so many nice messages sent to me over the last few weeks – first for the European gold, then winning the qualifiers and now to have selection officially confirmed.
Whether they’ve been from people I know, other athletes or folk who are curling fans or have followed my career, they all mean as much as each other.
Hopefully I’ll have more to reply to in February!
