From four-time Olympian and Beijing 2022 gold medallist to Milano Cortina 2026 Chef de Mission, Eve Muirhead knows Team GB like the back of her hand.
In the lead up to the 2026 Games, the former competitive curler is opening the doors and giving us a sneak peek at what it takes to lead a delegation.
The first part in a new Team GB series, get ready to go behind the scenes; welcome to Chef's Diary: Part One.
It never crossed my mind after Beijing about retiring but the season was getting closer and closer, and I was honestly quite scared to go back. I realised that I might not enjoy it anymore but luckily I then got approached by the British Olympic Association to see if I was interested in a leadership role and of course I was!
Sport is something that I always grew up doing and to get an opportunity to continue within sport and not just one sport but a complete array, it's exciting to be a part of that. Having been a leader in the past through curling, it's a very tactical sport that involves lots of high pressure decision making. I had a lot of positives that came out of my career which have then helped me become a Chef de Mission. It's a really exciting role and it's very different being on the other side after being an athlete.
I see it as having the athlete's needs and wants at the forefront so they can perform to the best of their potential at the Games. We need to make their journey as smooth as possible in the lead up to and during Milano Cortina. I always think of it as if we are running a bus somewhere. Yes, the bus gets booked by someone else, but I want to make sure the bus is comfy enough for athletes to travel on. Will it help them perform well? It's those small parts you don't think about that help an athlete in the long run.
I've experienced different Chefs over my time as an athlete from Vancouver 2010 to Beijing 2022 and what was really exciting about the last one was having another female and another Olympic medallist leading the team in Georgie Harland. I remember sitting down with her a lot during the Games and it's great to have those experienced people still to turn to. Mike Hay was also one of my Chefs and I know him very well from curling as he coached Rhona Martin to win her gold medal in 2002. He's someone I've also picked up the phone to and talked to and bounced ideas off. I'm not shy in asking for help and advice if I need it, because I think the more information you get, the more you can gather how you want to run this team.
Muirhead already has the knowledge and experience of being a two-time Olympic medal winning athlete to pass on at Milano Cortina.
But she will also be tapping into all she learnt on her journey as a first-time Chef de Mission at the Gangwon Youth Olympic Winter Games in January 2024 as she prepares to step up to the senior stage.
I absolutely loved Gangwon. The more I got involved and time went on, the more I felt comfy in having authority and making decisions. It can be nervy at times as you're out of your comfort zone of being an athlete but you've got to experience it at times to progress forward.
One thing I did learn was just how unpredictable winter sports can be. It's funny because when I was competing as a curler, you miss a lot of the action at the Games because you're so focussed on your sport, and we compete for a long time. So going to Gangwon and being able to watch the other sports I realised just how unpredictable winter sport is and the small margins to winning and losing. I also learnt that I'm a lot more nervous watching on from the stands compared to competing!
And with one year to go until the big event, Muirhead is already busy preparing for what is set to be the most widespread Olympic Winter Games of all time.
One year to go is a really exciting milestone as that's when the tension builds up and qualification comes. If I look at myself as an athlete within the system, I know what it's like in that pressure pot of qualification which is still to happen for all the sports. Athletes all around the world are now competing to get that qualification spot so for me, it's about trying to gauge where everyone is at and what needs to be done behind the scenes at Team GB to support as much as we can. We want to have that positive impact.
I've already been out to Milan and Cortina and some of the other host venues. We've had open days with the organising committee and days to familiarise ourselves with the lay of the land. Coming up I now also have the Chefs' seminar in March which will help give us more information from the Organising Committee which will help us plan. It's now about bringing together the team who are going to be out there during the Games, as well as planning for Kitting Out and the athlete summits. It's preparing so that when the day comes, we're all set and it's all guns blazing.
Sportsbeat 2025