Forfar couple Alan and Carol Drummond were very proud parents as they watched son Greg perform at the top of his game to give Team GB a flying start in the men’s curling competition against hosts Russia.
On Monday afternoon they enjoyed an equally pleasurable stroll around Olympic Park in Sochi, where five spectacular venues and the Olympic stadium were shimmering in the warm winter sunshine, with the huge Olympic flame burning brightly alongside.
There they met and talked to a familiar figure, Lord Coe, chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA), but known by most as double Olympic champion middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe.
Lord Coe was genuinely pleased to meet the Drummonds and other curling families, who are staying together in accommodation on a liner just south of Sochi.
“It’s fantastic that they’re here,” he said.
“It makes a massive difference. I know from my own experience that parents are probably the longest and the truest supporters and sponsors you’ll ever have.
“Often families shift priorities and go without things to allow you to do what you do and to have parents there while a competitor is at the biggest moment of their career, at the biggest stage that they could possibly be on, is just the right thing to do.”
Lord Coe is taking in several Olympic events in his capacity as head of the BOA, as well as being feted by winter sports-lovers from across the world in Sochi.
But small is beautiful as far as he is concerned, and he had warm words for Greg Drummond and his little town of Forfar.
“Greg is a fantastic role model, particularly as he is from a small community. It is really important that young people see that someone who lives a few streets away from them has been able, through hard work, focus and vision, and a forensic eye for detail, to do what they’ve done, and it sort of rolls out the carpet for them as well.”
Mr and Mrs Drummond will spend 13 days in Sochi, taking in most of the curling programme.
“We’re here for the duration,” Carol said.
“We’ll see the curling, of course, but in between games we hope to catch some of the other events. We’ll take each day as it comes.”
Alan said he was surprised by the scale of Olympic Park, where much of the games’ estimated £50 billion spend was concentrated on futuristic stadia and elegant boulevards, bridges and landscaping.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “I don’t really have the words to describe it, and Greg’s performance was very good. All the games will be tough because the top nations are here, but I think the guys have settled in really well.”
And for Carol Drummond, the woman responsible for sending Greg to Forfar ice rink when he was idling around as a schoolboy with nothing to do?
“I’m just very, very proud,” she said.