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Four years has been a long time

One of many media commitments in the build-up to Sochi.
One of many media commitments in the build-up to Sochi.

It’s only been in the last couple of weeks, when the Sochi hype has been kranked up, that I’ve fully appreciated just how much has changed in the last four years.

I’m not just talking about myself. It’s everything that goes with an Olympics.

If I think back to this time in 2010 when we were gearing up for Vancouver there was a fair bit of media interest in me, because I was only 19 and leading a team much older than me.

But it wasn’t anywhere near what we’ve experienced this time round.

It really is night and day. This week I’ve even had a photographer at one of my gym sessions, which is a first!

Some of it probably has to do with the post-London profile Olympians are getting.

Everything is on a bigger scale after the success of 2012, and this Team GB is being talked about as the strongest ever.

It’s great for winter sports, and curling in particular, that we’re getting all this air time and newspaper coverage.

And now there’s social media as well.

Four years ago I wasn’t on Facebook and hadn’t even heard of Twitter.

These days, social media is part of our lives as much as the normal media.

The attention on us and the attention on the men’s team is like Vancouver in reverse.

Then it was the men who were being talked about as the stronger medal hope. This time it’s us.

So, there’s certainly no chance of us going in under the radar.

I can honestly say that isn’t fazing us. It’s all new to the other girls, but they’re taking everything in their stride.

They’ve done a lot of the press stuff as well.

Today is the last media day, and after that we go into a holding camp before flying out to Moscow on Wednesday.

The idea of the holding camp is to start to get us into the team bubble with all the support staff.

There’s nothing glamorous about it though.

I remember hearing before London that the athletes went to places like Portugal before they arrived at the Olympic Village.

Well, I’m not getting much of a trip.

Our holding camp is a hotel in Stirling that I could walk to from my flat!