With 100 days to go until Milan Cortina, Team GB’s chef de mission for the next Winter Games hopes speaking out about her own experiences can help other athletes succeed
When Eve Muirhead led the Great Britain women’s curlers to Winter Olympic gold in 2022, the Guardian hailed her as the “Iron Lady” because she appeared indestructible.
It didn’t matter that she had failed initially to qualify for the Games. Or that she had Covid before the last-ditch tournament that finally secured their place. Or that Team GB’s women lost four of their opening eight matches in Beijing – and were 4-0 down against Sweden in the semi-finals. Somehow she always found a way.
Behind the scenes, though, it was a very different story. As Muirhead has revealed in her new autobiography, Ice Queen, she had severe depression just seven months before the Olympics. Indeed, her mental health was so bad that her psychologist would have signed her off work for half a year if she was in an office job.
“People think that I’m this kind of strong, steely-eyed competitor, which I am, yes,” Muirhead says. “But we’re all human, aren’t we? There is obviously a big soft side of me as well, that needs help at times. I’m very passionate about speaking about my experiences. Because if I can just help one or two athletes deliver their dream, that’s a win.”
