MEET the curlers who are saving the Beijing Winter Olympics for Team GB – and who love nothing more than getting their kit off.
From a NHS frontline hero to a world-class bagpipe player, these are the eight stars who have transformed the fortunes of the Brits abroad at these otherwise calamity Games.
After more than two weeks of slips, crashes, broken ski poles and busted dreams, the men’s and women’s curlers have rescued Britain’s blushes in China.
Skipper Bruce Mouat has won nine of his 10 games so far at the Ice Cube – the scene of the Olympic swimming action at the 2008 Beijing Games.
If Mouat’s curling Bravehearts win gold on Saturday against Sweden, it will emulate the achievements of Rhona Martin’s famous Stone of Destiny in 2002.
Mouat, leader of the world’s No.1 ranked team, is a positive role model for the LGBTQ community, having come out to junior teammates in 2014 following a discussion with a sports psychologist.
The 27-year-old wears rainbow laces on his shoes during games and would be one of the first openly-gay men in the UK to win an Olympic medal in a Winter sport.
He and teammates wiped off their uniforms last year and posed topless for the annual curling calendar, which since 2011 has raised money for various charities.
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The four lads, who helped to raise proceeds for the Prostate Cancer UK, chose a quiet golf course for their photoshoot.
Mouat explained: “The calendar comes out every year. It’s just a bit of fun for the curling community.
“I was actually a part of it in 2020 and I raised money for Alzheimer Scotland. This year we’re raising money for Prostate cancer.
“We were standing in our boxers and made sure no golfers were there just in case.
“We didn’t do the boxer shoot on the ice rink – that would have been too cold.
“None of my friends have seen it yet. They saw my one from two years ago which a lot of them were shocked at.
“Even family members were like: ‘Am I allowed to hang this on my wall?!’”
The quartet of Mouat, Bobby Lammie and cousins Grant Hardie and Hammy McMillan Jnr have been together for five years and there is a playful Old Firm divide among the group.
There is a fifth member, Ross Whyte, who gets ridiculed for being born in England, even though he represents Scotland.
Interestingly, he will also get a medal despite not making one single minute on the ice this tournament.
WOMEN’S TEAM
The women’s side will go tonight against Sweden in the semi-finals, aiming to reach the final and erase some demons from Eve Muirhead’s head.
They scrapped through qualifying before Christmas and only made the final four following the mathematics of the Draw Shot Challenge.
Muirhead, competing at her fourth Games, carried the GB flag at the opening ceremony alongside skier Dave Ryding and came here with a bronze medal from the 2014 Sochi Games.
The 31-year-old hails from a curling family as her dad Gordon competed at the 1992 Winter Games when it was a demonstration sport.
Not only she is a decent golf player but an accomplished bagpiper, piping at four world championships.
She leads a rookie side – Vicky Wright, Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff – in terms of this level of competition.
Wright played a key role during the Covid lockdowns two years ago, working for the NHS in the global battle against the spread of coronavirus.
The 28-year-old had decided to take time out from her career as a general surgical ward nurse, based at Forth Valley Larbert Hospital, to chase her Olympic dream in 2022.
However when the pandemic took hold in Europe at the start of 2020, she immediately realigned her priorities and put on her nursing scrubs once again.
She said: “Being a nurse has always given me a good perspective on life and kept my focus on what is important.
“In my nursing career over the years I always felt it was a privilege to be with someone and look after them when they were unwell and vulnerable.
“It has always made me appreciate the life I have, being able to work as a nurse which is a job that I love and also compete in curling which is a sport that I love.”
