Rhona Howie hailed Eve Muirhead’s resilience as the Team GB skip emulated her heroic feats of two decades ago.
Howie, née Martin, coached Muirhead to a bronze medal at Sochi 2014 when she became the youngest skip to win an Olympic medal.
Now Muirhead has matched her, winning Britain’s first curling gold in 20 years and Team GB’s first gold of the Games in Beijing.
Muirhead’s golden moment was far less dramatic than Howie’s ‘Stone of Destiny’ as she steamrollered Japan 10-3 with an end to spare to win an Olympic title at the fourth attempt.
“20 years has been long enough,” said Howie. “It was emotional.
“I’ve known Eve for so long and I’m just so happy for her, knowing what she’s gone through in the last year.
“She’s very driven and very determined and has the resilience to just keep fighting. She has the temperament that leads a team so well.
“Eve can be hard on them but you need to be. She encourages and supports and gets the best out of each player.”
Rhona Howie ❤️ @Team_Muirhead
Like a proud parent beaming with pride 😍#TeamGB | #Beijing2022 pic.twitter.com/gXQhKJ8aka
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 20, 2022
In the middle of last year, British Curling moved to a controversial squad system that saw Muirhead and eight team-mates competing for four places in the Olympic team.
That process, that saw Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff form Team Muirhead, had the potential to cause friction.
Howie’s own path to Olympic gold was complicated by politics that saw alternate Margaret Morton dropped.
“They finished eighth at the Worlds last year and then thought, right we need to change something so big in an Olympic year,” said Howie.
“It really has paid dividends. Good on them for being prepared to do it because that shake up and freshen up has helped them get here.
“They brought in Hailey in without her ever having played an international event, now she’s a European champion and an Olympic champion. Incredible.”
2002 symmetry
The symmetry with Howie’s 2002 triumph is uncanny with both rinks charting a choppy course through round-robin and play-off competitions.
Howie was grievously ill with a stomach bug and nearly didn’t compete at the Olympics with possible replacements on the verge of being drafted in.
It emerged after the Ice Cube gold medal match that members of Team Muirhead contracted and recovered from Covid within two months of the Games.
Howie had to win two tie-breakers to make it through to the semi-finals and came through a gruelling semi-final with heavy gold medal favourites Canada to reach the 2002 final.
Muirhead only made it through to the final four by virtue of Draw Shot Challenge, curling’s equivalent of goal difference, and by a margin of 10 centimetres.
And the rollercoaster nature of the 11-10 semi-final win over Sweden set them up for what became a procession to gold against Japan.
“They never had it easy here, they had to fight all the way,” said Howie.
“That’s where the true grit and determination that Eve has comes in. She’ll never stop fighting.
“In the pool stages they’d been playing well but not where we knew they could be. To get through that they had to play so so well and they did.
“Like we did 20 years ago you get given that chance and my goodness you take it. The semi-final was really the tougher game. That was their final.”
National Lottery players are one of the biggest supporters of Team GB and ParalympicsGB winter athletes and raise more than £30 million each week for good causes including grassroots and elite sport. Discover the positive impact playing The National Lottery has at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk and get involved by using the hashtag: #TNLAthletes
