The reaction to my retirement has been amazing.
It’s been a pretty similar experience to winning the Olympic gold.
So many people have taken the time to send lovely messages, which has meant so much.
It’s brought home how long I’ve been in curling, how many people I’ve met through it over the years, and what I’ve achieved.
When you hear from old team-mates and opponents – as far back as my days in the juniors – memories of matches and fun time off the ice start flooding back.
I’d had about two weeks to get used to my decision but within a couple of hours of the announcement, TV and radio crews were round my house.
I’m still getting messages coming in a week later. Lizzy Yarnold was on the phone the other day, which was lovely.
Whether it’s been family, friends, athletes from other sports, people I’ve never met, or curlers – all the kinds words have meant so much.
After competing for medals and titles against the likes of Anna Hasselborg and Alina Patz year after year, for them to say things like I’d pushed them on to higher levels is really touching.
They know what it takes to win a World or Olympic gold and to stay at the top for a long time when you’ve got a target on your back.
It is nice to know I’ve done the hard work, got what I wanted to get out of the sport and put myself into a special group of champions.
Will @evemuirhead be turning pro following her successful debut here at the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship? 🤷🏻♀️ Will she be ‘putting’ down the curling stone and picking up a golf club full time? Listen to what she had to say! #BP322 @Champs_events @NailcoteHall pic.twitter.com/IArRSu9Yu1
— Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship (@BritishPar3) August 12, 2022
I can’t keep playing in golf days (Sir Alex Ferguson’s at the Carrick has been the latest one) and meeting friends for coffee but I’m making sure I enjoy a more relaxed time while it lasts!
And it does feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
When you’re part of an elite programme, there are a lot of decisions out of your hands.
Mixed doubles ‘no’ was the message
There’s no sugar-coating it – the announcement of their plans for the new season did feel like a kick in the teeth to be honest.
After last season had finished I specifically asked whether there would be an option of just doing mixed doubles with Bobby Lammie, who I’d just won the Worlds with, and was told it was a ‘no’.
Two years out from the Olympic Games it might be, but definitely not now.
I do know that things change in sport quickly, and my retirement has caused them to have a shuffle of the pack.
But to see British Curling go with that exact proposal I made (with Jen Dodds) is frustrating.
After that ‘no’ to the mixed I got, in the couple of weeks between me informing them that I intended to retire and going public with it, I was never told that their thoughts on the subject have changed.
New British Curling line-ups to feature in Euro Super Series opener which starts tomorrow.
Read▶️https://t.co/jU3okzWNkg#curling pic.twitter.com/JOFa4RgmQu— British Curling (@BritishCurling) August 17, 2022
Like I said last week, though, I know I’ve come to the right conclusion. Maybe even more so now.
The time is right to move on.
Seeing how it all plays out in Scotland and across the world, with so many team line-ups changing, will be fascinating.
And I’m looking forward to writing about it in the column!
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