It is less than a year since Perth curler Mili Smith won a gold medal for Team GB in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Yet she is already more than halfway through qualifying for a new career as a primary school teacher.
At just 24, Mili decided to step away from full-time curling after claiming an Olympic title in February 2022 alongside fellow Perth hero Eve Muirhead.
And while she has not ruled out a return to top-level competition, her current focus is on completing a one-year PGDE in primary education at Dundee university.
“Primary teaching is something I always wanted to do,” Mili said.
“And I always think it is important to have something else you can do if sport goes a different way.
“It’s good to have a backup – for me that’s teaching and it’s really important to have that qualification.”
In this interview Mili also talks about psychology, Perth’s ability to produce Olympic champions and her recent conversation with the Princess Royal while collecting an MBE.
From a family of curling winners
Growing up on the family farm near Guildtown, Mili Smith enjoyed playing hockey, tennis, skiing and golf.
But as the youngest of a family of curlers it was perhaps inevitable that this would be the sport she focused on.
Mili’s grandad Bill was a keen curler and her father David represented Britain in the 1988 Olympics when it was a demonstration sport.
Three years later, David helped Britain to a world title in Winnipeg alongside his brother Peter, who additionally won world titles at Lowell in 2006 and Moncton in 2009.
Mili’s two older brothers, Kyle, 30, and Cammy, 29, came fifth for Team GB at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
She says her brothers “have been great friends, great inspiration in sport and life.”
Five years on from their Olympics appearance, Kyle and Cammy are now back working on the family farm.
Perth’s Eve was big inspiration
Having watched the boys train at Perth’s Dewars Centre, Mili took to the ice rink herself when she was 11.
She soon joined Airley Wight Ladies Curling Club and later represented St Martins.
One of her big inspirations was Eve Muirhead, who she would eventually understudy at the Olympics.
“When I started curling, Eve was the person and I used to look up to,” said Mili, who is 10 years younger.
“I watched her and Anna Sloan and other girls. It’s nice to think I got good enough to play with her.
“The fact Eve was from Perth inspired me to want to do as well as she had.
“I related to her because she has two brothers who are also from farming backgrounds so we have a bit in common.”
Great setup at Fair City
The setup in Perth goes some way to explaining the city’s Midas touch in curling, Mili believes.
“The ice rink here is one of my favourites,” she said.
“The junior clubs have been really good at promoting and having sessions and played a big part in why I stuck with the sport.
“They always pushed and encouraged me to play competitions and practice, and made it really fun.
“There were always a lot of competitions in Perth over the years.
“You could watch the elite men and women play, and were playing on the same ice and with the same stones as these people.
“So when you are younger you can see them and relate to what they are doing. You can practise beside them and play against them.”
Psychology degree helped sport career
Milli had success at U12 and U17 levels before going full-time at the age of 19.
This was thanks to receiving a scholarship at Stirling university to study a degree in psychology.
It enabled her to combine her studies with full-time sport.
“It was good for me because it taught me to balance my time and prioritise,” she said.
The subject matter also complemented her curling career.
“I have always had an interest in people, how they think and how their upbringing influences who they are,” Mili said.
“In sport, particularly as curling is a team sport, it’s really helpful.
“As a junior I played with the same team most of the time and when the team did change, psychology was really useful to get to know each other.
“You have to understand on and off ice what works and what doesn’t work, and how to support people if things aren’t going well.
“My degree and personality really supported that, how to have a really good awareness of people and how to work with people.”
‘Lot of stress around Covid’ before trip to China
Mili won a silver medal in the 2017 world junior championships at Pyeongchang and then made a seamless transition to senior level.
She followed up a gold in the 2019 Scottish championships in Perth with a European title in Lillehammer in 2021.
She completed her studies eight months prior to the 2022 Olympics, meaning she could focus totally on the Games.
When the British team set off for China the tension was even higher than usual.
“There was a lot of stress around Covid,” Mili recalled.
“There had been such caution about isolating and being in a bubble.
“If you did get Covid you could miss out on Olympics that you might never get another chance to compete at.
“As soon as we got there we had a Covid test and once we knew that we were negative the stress reduced massively.”
‘Almost a year on it still doesn’t feel real’
Sunday, February 20 2022 was the day that Mili joined Eve, Vicky Drummond, Jen Dodds and Hailey Duff on the winner’s podium after GB’s comfortable 10-3 victory over Japan.
“Almost a year on it still doesn’t feel real,” Mili said.
“The Olympics are so special because they only take place every four years but when you’re there the competition style is very similar to a world championships.
“I just thought of it as another championships so it wasn’t a massive pressure. We just took each day as it came and enjoyed it.
“To win gold when we did was just surreal. It was awesome but it was also a blur.
“We were in a bubble so didn’t have that much contact with everyone at home.
“Afterwards it was absolutely amazing to talk to everyone.
“When we did that it started to feel more real.”
Special moments speaking to Princess Anne
Another reality check came on being presented with an MBE at Holyrood Palace.
The honour was announced last summer but it wasn’t until this month that Mili, Vicky, Jen and Hailey were bestowed. Eve had already received an OBE and MBE.
“It was a day I will never forget,” Mili said.
“My mum, my dad and one of my brothers, Kyle, came with me.
“When we got the award we were taken into a special room.
“Princess Anne was there and an orchestra was playing music.
“She spoke to me for a couple of minutes. She was really genuine and it was really nice.
“The fact she took the time to speak individually to me made it feel more special.”
Hand forced by lack of part-time option
Mili has stepped away from top-level competition because British Curling offers no part-time option.
“It is important to have a career behind you which I otherwise wouldn’t,” she said, before adding “I may go back one day.”
Mili continued: “I still curl, I still play and still train in the gym loads and the option to go back might happen.
“I play a lot of club games and have played some competitions, including in Norway a couple of months ago.
“Whatever you achieve there is always more to still achieve. There’s nothing I could achieve that will make me feel I have done enough. There will always be more.
“But I have done full-time curling since I left school and it is all I’ve known.
“It just felt like a good time to do something different.”
Teaching new things to ‘fresh’ minds
After beginning the Dundee university course last August she is keen to get into the classroom and pass on her knowledge.
“I really like young children,” she said.
“I like the way their minds are so fresh and how they put all their trust in you.
“I had a placement a few months ago with P6 pupils and every day was so different.
“The kids are learning and they are teaching you as well.
“I enjoyed school and was taught by a lot of really nice teachers who had a big influence on who I am, and I want to have that same influence on other people.
“I want to help them find themselves and what they want to do in life.”
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