Making Gains with Radzi ep 15 - Team GB Winter Olympian, Ice Queen: Eve Muirhead video transcript
Music] Go, Go, Go, I’m a bad man Yeah buddy What’s causing all this I shook up the world I am that damn good!
Radzi: Hello and welcome to Making Gaines with me, Radzi, in association with the University of Derby, where they make it real; and Finnebrogue Naked Bacon, the biggest revolution to happen to British breakfast in a generation. Now on today's episode, we have somebody who does a sport which you possibly may not know an awful lot about but let me tell you, it's not only a tough sport it's an unbelievable sport, and you definitely need to check it out at the Winter Olympics if you haven't before. The sport I'm talking about is the sport of Curling, and our guest is an Olympic medallist; she's a world champion; she's a two-times European champion; she's an eight-times Scottish Curling champion. Eve Muirhead, welcome to making gains.
Eve: Thank you, thanks for having me.
Radzi: It's really good to talk to you. Now, Eve, one of the reasons I'm probably come to talk to you is that on making games, one of the big things is, as the sign says behind me, we're about the pursuit of excellence, and when you think about Curling you don't necessarily think about what happens off the ice, but you train in terms of strength and conditioning really hard.
Eve: We do, and there's a lot more that goes on away from the ice rink than a lot of people realise, and over the years, the sport's definitely become a lot more physical, and I think it's definitely become a lot more strength-based and I think you can really notice that if you watch Curling nowadays with the impact that the sweeping has and as you can imagine the kind of fitter the stronger you are, the more force you can get through the brush and then that obviously means the more you can impact the stone. So Yeah, over the years, it's definitely, it's definitely changing, um I think that the gym works just as important as the on-ice work nowadays. So um yeah, we train, we train hard, very hard.
Radzi: So if you were to compete, for example, let's say the Olympic champion from 1994. What would be the difference in the-the teams in terms of not necessarily physiologically because they'd be stronger now but in terms of what they could perhaps do to the stone that they couldn't back then?
Eve: Yeah, so that's a really good question and nowadays there's a lot more science behind it and because obviously like well two sweepers are sweeping one stone at a time and there's a lot behind which sweeper should be closest to the stone and which sweeper should be furthest away and it all comes down to what angle their brushes are at whether it's going to help curl the stone more or whether it's going to help keep the stone slightly straighter. Also, over the years, if you, if you go back to as you say, let's say in the 1994-ish the, the material on the brush has also changed back then. They'd probably been using a lot of like hog hair brushes, so actual brush, and nowadays we use more of like a synthetic material. So things are definitely um, changing over the years, and a lot more science is brought into the sport, and there's a lot more testing going on to find out, as I said like, what impacts the stone the most to have a better result. So if I throw a stone and I throw it slightly wide, and I need that stone to curl; then science behind it shows if we sweep that stone from the certain side, it will curl more, and if we want to keep it slightly straighter if you, if you sweep it from the other side, it's gonna it's gonna stay slightly straighter so um over the years there is a lot more science going into it um, and it's funny actually like you look back, and you watch videos of-of-of guys and girls Curling, and you're watching like you're like 'Why are they sweeping it like that? Why are they keeping it that way because you're just, you're just making it curl more?' and they're thinking they're keeping it straight.
Radzi: Oh wow.
Eve: And it's quite funny actually, so um yeah, it's the same as every sport though isn't it like you look at golf, and things like the balls are always changing the-the technology behind the drivers the technology behind the irons it's all changing and um it's exactly the same in the sport of Curling.
Radzi: So you're often the skip, meaning you're the person that throws the stone. If you're varying your actual throw, do you vary how you push off or is it all done in terms of actually the release and what you do with your arm?
Eve: Hmm, A little bit of both, um, so in a Curling team, there's four players, and each of us will actually throw two stones per end, but me being the skip or the captain, I throw the last two.
Radzi: Ah, Right.
Eve: So in theory, they are the stones that kind of count either are going to get you points or sometimes lose you points um, but it's a good question about whether it's the-the strength you push out of what we call the hack...
Radzi: Yeah.
Eve: That's what we push out of or like your release um and it's a little bit of both like if you really want to throw a really hard heavy shot like you obviously need to push out harder, but you will also want to give… like push it a little bit when you let it go. If you're just playing a very delicate like draw to the rings, you push out a little bit later out of the hack, and then you maybe won't give it like as much in the hand it sounds funny, but it's a very kind of touchy-feely game you kind of like feel the weight if that makes sense?
Radzi: Um Yeah.
Eve: And like you kind of within your-within your kind of central nervous system within your body. Like you can just feel the weight of the ice and you kind of, once you dial into that, you know when you're sliding out, I just need to give it a little bit, or maybe I should just kind of hold back a little bit.
Radzi: You know, with say, for example, snooker. The actual point of contact, you hit the cue ball and that happens in a millisecond so you almost don't have a chance to think about it. Whereas, with what you're doing, you drive out of the hack. I'm not sure that's the correct terminology.
Eve: That's right, yeah. That's very good.
Radzi: And then you've got a few seconds before you actually release the stone.
Eve: Uhm yep.
Radzi: Can you tell when you're onto something good or equally can you tell when it's-it's not quite right even before you've released it?
Eve: Yeah, you can, and that's probably why I'm inside the ice rink five days a week, twice a day, throwing stone, after stone is to build up that consistency and we do a lot of very technique based work, with cameras and things because if you can the more consistent you can be sliding out every single time the more chance you're going to be delivering that stone on the correct line but if you come out slightly wobbly or you come out slightly wide or tight straight away, you know oh something's not right and you're trying to correct it and you're too busy maybe thinking about correcting that, than thinking about like the weight you're going to throw the stone or something.
Radzi: If I were to... sorry.
Eve: So yeah, no-no. I was just gonna say it-it does like it-it's something that-that-that consistency plays a huge part, and that's when you speak about a lot of the strength work we do as well. If you can build up a lot of core stability, a lot of like single leg-work, a lot of leg drive, explosive power, all these really small elements help you and help you become a lot more stable and consistent.
Radzi: How many stones are you throwing on a session out of interest?
Eve: Probably around about 60, I would say. Um, it varies. If I'm just doing an individual session, I would say about 60, but if we're doing like a team session, it'll probably be more like 20.
Radzi: Okay, and what's the aim of what you're doing with those? Because it's-it's a really funny sport. In that say with Tennis, you're working on your forehand or your backhand, or your slice or your serve. Whereas, with Curling, because it's a relatively closed action, you're seeing.
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: To the naked eye, you're not seeing as much variation. So are you, is there a specific objective with what you're doing with those 60 stones?
Eve: Every single session we go into we have a, we have an outcome that we-we want to achieve and we'll have a session plan and to be fair it's a little bit similar to what you just described like at Tennis, you have um, the two hands, it's the same in Curling. We have an in-turn, we have an out-turn and there's a big variety of weights as well that you can throw so as I say you'd go in and let's say, one day I'll want to work on my out-turn peel weight, so that's like out-turn hits and I can go in and throw 40 of them and then I'll maybe transition to 20 in-turn draws So that's just like a softer way draw on the other side of the sheet and maybe another day I'll get the camera out and I'll do a little bit work on my, on-my-line and team sessions will maybe play against our coach, they'll maybe like place the stones as if we're playing one of the best teams in the world and we have to beat them. Um, there's also like, we have fun as well; there's also a lot of fun games you can play, like crazy eights, for instance. You put all eight of the opposition stones in the house, and you have to remove all eight of them, but keep all yours in the house. There's like a lot of funny things like that, like we-we have, we have fun as well, but we also, um, we also kind of knuckle down and-and know we have to be serious and put in the hard work.
Radzi: What really surprised me when I did a tiny bit of Curling for Blue Peter, Was where we practised on our one session, was on a public ice rink or public ice sheets if you like.
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: Then where we did it, I think it was the European championships but we turned up and the ice was like marble and my first stone we had no practice I let go of it and I went “even, I know that's, even I know that's wrong”. So how much variation do you get between the ice?
Eve: A lot, and that's one of the... That's one of the-the kind of smaller parts of the sport that-that we need to be switched on to. Like we travel all around the world competing and we train here in Stirling, at the national academy and the ice conditions here will be very different to Switzerland, to Sweden, to Russia, where we're going in a couple of weeks, and you can be talking inches or you can be talking feet.
Radzi: Oh wow.
Eve: For example, the ice here in Stirling is curling maybe like four and a half five-foot, that's how much like the ice is moving and you could go away and it could be curling six-foot. Um, speed-wise as well the speed varies from ice rink to ice rink. Um, arenas tend to be a little slow at the start but get very quick. Um, clubs tend to be a little bit slower all the time and doesn't it doesn't speed up too much. Um, and what a lot of people don't realize as well, every stone is slightly different in the way it curls a little bit more; it's maybe a little bit faster; it's maybe a little bit slower; it's maybe a little bit straighter. So these are all things that we need to pick up as a team, because me as a skip I want to be left the two best stones, like I don't want a slow stone or a fast stone.
Radzi: Oh okay.
Eve: So I give that to the other girls in my team, but we need to know which stones are slow and fast. So it's-it's a very technical, tactical, it's-it's a, there's a lot more that goes on than people think.
Radzi: And is it frustrating in that's why I used to do skeleton bobsleigh, that was my aim to make the winter Olympics. I didn't make the winter Olympics. But the thing that when you spoke to the guys that kind of was annoying is throughout every four years there are European champs, there are world champs, there's a world cup, there's a circuit. There's so much going on but, the world only cares about one tournament, every four years, and it's the Winter Olympics, and then they suddenly go 'Ah Eve, you're no good anymore because you had a bad performance' whereas actually, I'm a reigning world champion.
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: - And is-is that quite difficult to deal with, where it's a relatively quiet sport that gets covered in papers perhaps, and then all of a sudden the eyes of the world are just on you?
Eve: Yeah, Yeah it is and Curling kind of hits the papers, hits-hits the tv once every four years doesn't it and um if you're doing well everything's great, it's very positive publicity but maybe-maybe when things don't go as great It's not, it's not such-such good publicity. Um, and that can be quite hard because as you say you can develop World Championships, European championships and-and to me these are actually just as important than the Olympic games but to everybody else, the Olympic games is the pinnacle. The Olympic games is all what the public look at or even know about, and sometimes it's not their fault. It's not their fault that they don't know the world championships is going on, the Europeans is going on, it's I guess, it's the, it's the less coverage and I would love the sport of Curling to adopt uh, to-to adopt the more um general showing of the sport. Like at night you'll switch on the tv and what is it Football, Rugby, the usual but, it'd be awesome if we could have some Curling or something a little bit different like these kind of less minority sports. Like what you say like Skeleton Bobsleigh, um Luge, all these kind of sports like Britain are good at these if you look at the last Winter Olympics Sochi, we got a gold. Um, in Skeleton we got a cup of bronze and um, what do we get a bronze in we've got a bronze in snowboarding we've got a bronze and Curling we've got a silver in Curling and we've got another gold at Pyeongchang in the, in the skeleton but that's, that's all what-what people know about, they don't know that Lizzy Arnold's like double world champion
Radzi: Right.
Eve: They don't know Amy Williams won the Europeans and whatever. Do you know what I mean? Like it's, it would be great if these less minority sports got more, got more coverage and-and people um, people knew more about them.
Radzi: What's crazy I did a film going back about water skiing and the guy who was my coach Nick McGarry, he was telling me that once upon a time one of the biggest sports in the country was Water Skiing, yet the British champs had 30 000 people in attendance.
Eve: Oh my god wow.
Radzi: Actually, it's it is an incredible spectacle to see people getting pulled along by a boat and it doesn't even cost much.
Eve: It is.
Radzi: Right and what with what you guys do, the thing is every four years, the country becomes an expert and you're always a bad one, oh that was a good one but there is something just captivating about watching stones go a bit like I also love snooker as in.
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: Snooker some people go, it's like watching paint dry and I get that, but at the same time though, you don't always
Eve: And there's something.
Radzi: There is something about it; there's something.
Eve: There's something about it, yes. The amount of people that say to me, 'oh like I just love the winter Olympics, like I just love them', and I'm thinking yeah, like everyone does and as you say it's just something about these sports, like to see with me I love watching snooker like as a kid I used to watch all the time and I don't know why you know what I mean it's the same with Curling, like why would you want to sit and watch a sport that lasts like three hours and it literally comes down to the last 30 seconds usually um but there's something that just draws you to it isn't it. Um, and, yeah, I love that like that's um, that's what's great about the sport, that people get right into it.
Radzi: Do you get any, um, symmetrical issues out of injuries or balance issues in your body because one thing that wasn't on camera when I tried Curling, was the fact that my actual back, I was embarrassed to admit this, went into spasm and I realised.
Eve: Really?
Radzi: I was so cold, yet, I was at full stretch and I think my body was going, 'this is not good Radzi, you should not be doing this' and seeing like if you're talking about driving out 60 times, that's putting a lot.
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: of pressure through your hip flexors, through your glutes, through your hammies as well, do you have to try and go both sides?
Eve: Yeah, well, you don't go both sides; you just go one side. So, for me I'm right-handed, so I'll have my, my left leg will be like flex that will be bent and my right leg will be straight behind me, um, and I guess we do all have a bit of imbalance. But it's not as much as you think, um, I, unfortunately, have a lot of hip issues, so I actually had quite major hip surgery about two and a half years ago, um, and that's just like wear and tear that's the constant repetitive movement, um, but when I was a kid, like I was one of those-those people that just loved it. Like I would honestly go, I'd run after school. I'd play and I'd throw hundreds of stones up and down the ice, up and down the ice, and I looked back like no wonder your hips are out there.
Radzi: [Laughter]
Eve: Um so-so yeah like we like there's not many curlers that have got like issues as bad as me, but um, we-we do we-we have a lot of them hip flexors a lot of like our physios constantly stretch the hip flexor stretch the cords and a few guys get quite-quite um bad shoulder issues because obviously the sweeping's quite kind of off upper body dominant
Radzi: Ahh.
Eve: But all in all do you know what like it's not a sport that there's a lot of injury and it's not as, it's not as um lopsided as such as what you think we seem to be able to kind of counterbalance it pretty well whether it's the gym work what we do out with that-that kind of helps you stay symmetrical.
Radzi: This is a random one now. I was just thinking as you were saying that there are some sports where it's if you're like physiological, so 100 meters sprint you need to be bang on it and nerves might help you. If the, do nerves play a big factor in what you do, would actually having a tipple, would that help you if you're actually the Skip?
Eve: Well it's something I've never tried during a high-pressure situation. Maybe, I should give that a shot, get the, get the hip flask in the, in the back pocket.
[Laughter]
Eve: Um, do you know what like of course like every-every athlete will get, will get nervous when it comes to the high-pressure situations and like I would like to think I actually perform probably my best when there's a lot of pressure like I seem to just thrive with that, yeah, thrive with that pressure and-and love performing like on the big stage with that-that pressure in my back. Um, other people are-are very different to that, of course, but, there's no way of really replicating that, and practising that pressure, unless you're in that environment, is there? And I guess I'm lucky enough that I've been in that-that pressure environment so many times that I've began to-to put together a bit of a-a routine, a bit of a way that I deal with it the best I can, and so it's um. It's like a question that I get asked all the time, like 'oh what were you thinking when you're playing that last stone #,' but you think like I, as I said, you throw over 100 stones a day and like you're just in the zone.
Radzi: Right.
Eve: Like when I played the last stone to win my Olympic medal, I honestly from one minute didn't think 'oh my god this is to an Olympic medal, this is to win the bronze medal', like you're just you're in the zone but, flip that round if I was sitting in the crowd watching like I am just a nervous wreck like I am Yeah like terrible like my brother's curling things And um, see sitting watching them play Oh it's-it's awful I'm like I just want to be on there playing because I have control.
[Music]
Radzi: Did you have a kind of a moment, um, because I think, I bet you get asked a lot, what's your proudest accomplishment, do you have like a proudest, say, five or ten seconds?
Eve: Yeah, that is um, do you know what like of course like winning your Olympic medal throwing that last stone to achieve something great is a moment you'll never forget and when it came to rest it's more uh it's more a moment of relief and I guess that's probably my proudest moment was when that-that stone stopped and you knew you-you had that medal you knew you'd won the competition was over the last four years of practice the last two weeks of intense competition was done and as I say it was more a kind of that kind of relief that it's done because it's-it's a bit like a pressure cooker for the time at the Olympics and building up. Like, obviously the media gets more hype your phone's going off more, the crowds are becoming bigger, like it builds up and up and up, and obviously when it finishes it's just like it's done, it's done, it is over, and you can kind of switch off that a little bit.
Radzi: That's really interesting because I know like one of your heroes is Jess Ennis or as she was in 2012 Jessica Ennis-Hill, is that when she crosses the line after the 800 meters in London it's just relief.
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: There's no euphoria and I think for some people let's just take Greg Rutherford, the same day his is disbelief and I think genuine euphoria and so it's really interesting that your kind of experience was weight off the shoulders rather than
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: Goodness, I can't believe it.
Eve: Yeah, yeah, exactly, it's a it's, a very good way of putting it, and I was actually lucky enough to be there when-when Jess won that.
Radzi: Wahey.
Eve: For someone who, yeah for someone who was like the-the poster girl of the games who was like the face of the games who had all that pressure on her obviously from the failure at the previous Olympics it-it was just like a moment like as you said I bet nothing but relief was going through her head like it wouldn't have been disbelief because she would have known she was capable of winning and she was, but like just having all those people um in your face as such like you being everywhere the media hype, for her to be able to just zone and switch off just shows how much of an incredible athlete she is.
Radzi: I guess there was an element of that with what you do admittedly it's never been a home winter Olympics. But there is an element of, if you said to virtually 99.999 percent of the country, name me a single curler people would either go Rhona or yourself and that must be a lot of pressure because you're ultimately a team. Yet I think if you, if you win there's an element of GB has won, but if you lose there's a sense of Eve Muirhead lost. Is that tough?
Eve: [Laughter]
Eve: Yeah, or Scotland's lost.
Radzi: Ah, you know what. I've got my mum's from Dundee and so she's always on about, that's when Andy Murray wasn't very good, it was Scotland's, Andy Murray.
Eve: Scotland's.
Radzi: If it was good, it's GBs Andy Murray.
Eve: Yeah, 100 percent, no. I am, no. I'm totally with you. I'm totally with you there, and in a way, like it's-it's a part of the sport that I don't like. That the team just don't seem to get the same recognition as-as the skip or the Captain because as you say like Rhona won that gold medal in 2002 and could you name the rest of her team?
Radzi: Sadly not.
Eve: Probably not so, and a lot of people wouldn't be able to, and like I guess that's what comes with-with being the skip though but for me, I always try and kind of share-share a lot of the responsibilities out to the other girls. If there's options to go and do interviews or things like that-that any of us can do, I'll say 'well one of you girls go and do it' and like they love doing that and like I never forget that it's a team sport, it's not Eve Muirhead, it's team, or it's not Eve Muirhead, it is like team Muirhead, like we are a team and that's one part that I always really do, um, admire is that it is a team. It's a team performance. As much as I threw the last stone through in the worlds, I threw the last one to win the Olympic medal, it was a team effort. like those girls swept that stone to perfection, the third called the stone to perfection. So you can't take that away from them.
Radzi: You know, we mentioned Jess, and I said Jess Ennis as she was in 2012; she's now Jessica Ennis-Hill. If and when you decide to get married, are you going to double-barrel your name or is it always going to be Eve Muirhead?
Eve: Oh, do you know what I've not even thought about it. I don't know.
Radzi: It just won't be the same.
Eve: Good question! Yeah, um, I know it won't be the same, it won't be Team Muirhead anymore, it'll be, don't know.
Radzi: See, my surname is Chinyanganya, so there's no way that's getting double-barreled. No too many syllables.
Eve: No, that would be a long double-barrel.
Radzi: Yh Chinanganya-smith. What are you talking about?
[Laughter]
Eve: And how would you spell that please?
Radzi: Yeah, correct, yeah. I don't know. I don't know. What is your dream with what you do, what you do? Is it Olympic gold, or is it something that perhaps if you're in the sport you'd understand that say for example in the winters in say let's take Sky brown, hers really isn't getting an Olympic medal, it's probably the X games or even there's a guy called uh Matthias Dukers the greatest of all time, he didn't get gold in Pyeongchang or Sochi or I've missed one out whether or Vancouver but...
Eve Muirhead: Vancouver yeah.
Radzi: Yeah, he's still the greatest. Is there an element of something you want to do in your sport that would be bosch-box ticked?
Eve: You know what, I've-i've probably done most of what I can do within my sport um I probably ticked a lot of the boxes and the only the only big box that isn't ticked is, of course, the-the Olympic, the Olympic gold medal and if you're to ask anyone what would you like to do of course they're going to see win the Olympics like that's just part and parcel isn't it but for me, like I would just love of course I want to win the Olympics, yes but I would just love to grow right through Britain, not just Scotland just the whole of Britain I would love it to be a-a well-known sport I'd love it to have so many young kids wanting to give it a shot but the possibilities to give it a shot because we all know that there's not many Curling rinks in England I think there's one but...
Radzi: Right, Yes.
Eve: If we can get more, Yeah, if we can get more ranks in England and get more young kids involved and really grow the sport like that's just something I would i would love to do is-is to grow the sport of curling.
Radzi: Why is that-that England just doesn't seem to take part in the same way Scotland does?
Eve: You know what, I actually don't know. Of course, like the-the curling stones and things all come from Ailsa Craig in Scotland and, um, England just doesn't seem to kind of adopt the same, the same kind of commitment or they just don't seem to have the same facilities. I just don't know what it is. Of course current started in Scotland and it's um, it is like known as kind of the Scottish sport, obviously it's very big in Canada as well, but...
Radzi: Yeah.
Eve: It's-it's weird and it's something that I've just never really put my foot on why-why it's not grown so much throughout Britain when Team GB are very successful. It's a good question and it's something that I would like to change.
Radzi: Because it also must be tough you hear again every few years there's a kind of internal battle within GB slash Scotland alone to represent GB as it were and we're kind of in that I guess gift and a curse situation wherewith such a strong side yet we only have one team that can-can represent. Is that another pressure that we don't necessarily see because we look at the major events, but just to actually represent Great Britain or Scotland, is a flipping hard task?
Eve: Oh it is, it's very hard and as much as you said in your opening, eight-time Scottish champion, it has been tough it has been very hard to become eight times Scottish champion, it's not just a case that I turn up and um you're playing against um a bunch of people that haven't curled before like it's not like that and the Scottish championships is probably one of the events that I get most nervous at because...
Radzi: Okay
Eve: I have that feeling. I have that feeling like what you just said, people just expect you to win. People expect you to be at the world championships. People expect you to be at Olympic games, but, that comes with a lot of hard work and a lot of, a lot of, um, very successful competitions. For instance, this year unfortunately, we didn't have a very good world championships last year, so right now we're not automatically in the Olympics in Beijing, um, in February. So we have to go through the Olympic qualifier, which is in December...
Radzi: Okay.
Eve: And only three and only three teams get out of that, and that's something that I've never experienced before. Like so that's going to be very different and I obviously need to get-get selected for that team to represent Great Britain at that qualifier, then hopefully get represented as Great Britain at the Olympic games. So, right now we are not in, but, fingers crossed December goes well and we are, we are in Beijing.
Radzi: Are there any other big countries that are having to go through the same thing as yourselves?
Eve: Do you know what, there's actually a few, because the world championships was very different to a normal world championship, as such. Obviously, we all know like the covid situation and things, and a lot of teams dealt with that better than other teams. Like, we were literally locked in our rooms for five weeks, on our own, we could go to the rink, play our games, you're straight back to your room, and like -
Radzi: 5 weeks?
Eve: I just personally, I didn't, yeah, we were there for-for a long time and I personally didn't deal with it very well. Um, there was kind of surprises that some teams got through to the Olympic games that maybe on paper, weren't the strongest, and then there's some teams that obviously should of but didn't. So there is quite a few tough-tough teams going to be at this qualifier because, as I say, the world championship was um, a little different. I'm not using that as any excuse at all; we just, we didn't perform well.
Radzi: Yeah.
Eve: Um, but it's not going to be easy in December, but fingers crossed um, it all goes well.
Radzi: I'm not being funny. I mean, five weeks, we're not prisoners and that's...
Eve: It felt like it.
Radzi: Well, the thing is, for me, you take the gym away from me and all of a sudden my head goes, I-I did...
Eve: Same, but you know what I did? I packed a dumbbell with me.
[Laughter]
Eve: Yeah, no, I'm exactly the same as you. Um, I had a 15-kilo dumbbell and I-I just packed in my suitcase and I took it with me because I just knew, I was like, I won't be able to to keep things together for-for that long and I was lucky enough I managed to get an assault bike as well for my room. Um, so I had an assault bike and a 15-kilo dumbbell, lots of bands, a TRX and things. So um, I managed to get by but, I 100 percent, what you say, like I'm used to going to these events I'm used to going out to a proper gym getting the right headspace...
Radzi: Yeah.
Eve: Walking around, going to coffee shops, going out for food with the other girls in the team. Like it was, it was very different, it was very tough but, um, it was the same for everyone and as I say some-some dealt with it better than others.
Radzi: It is the same for everyone, but it's sort of not in the, if you're, the way I cope with life, not the pub, occasional spa, I flipping like spas but, I-I could live without tv to a point, I could live without books to a point, but the gym, the gym and wi-fi is what keeps me going and you take that away I mean, there are talks that if I'm asked to work at the Winter Olympics in Beijing there are talks of a 21-day hotel quarantine and...
Eve: What?
Radzi: Right, right. 21 days.
Eve: Wow.
Radzi: And that's a, as things stand, as I speak to you now that applies to um media, officials, volunteers, athletes, coaches, everyone. Now-now it can't happen because there's no way you can have especially in sports where let's just take figure skating.
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: You can't have three weeks off yeah it's just not safe but-
Eve: Yeah it's the same in curling, like having three weeks off is-is a lot of time.
Radzi: Right.
Eve: Like that's-that's a big break for us especially when you're gearing up to one of the biggest competitions of a lot of people's life. Um, and yeah it's um, it's just so different isn't it, it's right now it's a different world but let's hope that that 21 days gets lessened very quickly.
Radzi: Unless you freeze the carpet in the corridor and then you just got a beautiful sheet of ice that you can practice all day in the hotel.
Eve: Oh yes and just take a 20 kilo stone with me in my suitcase, no problem.
Radzi: Have you been out to where the actual place will be in China?
Eve: I haven't. I've been to Beijing a couple of times, So do you know I've probably been close to it but I couldn't exactly tell you um where it is but I'll hope, I'll wait and that hopefully will come in February.
Radzi: Do you, do you prefer having kind of friends, family, loved ones watching you compete?
Eve: Do you know what, yes I think I do and that's one part that I did miss at the world championships like it was an environment that I never played in, was like empty stands. Um, we had quite a few scares as well with tv crew and testing positive and some members of different teams testing positive and um, but, so it was very different and I am used to my parents being at a lot of the major championships that I'm at, so that was different. Like I don't rely on them but, sometimes it's nice to have them there and it's nice to have someone there you can go and chat to or um, just kind of shoot the breeze out and you know what I mean and um-um, yeah get a bit of support from the stands like there's always those kinds of lonesome ones up there with the GB flags at the Winter Olympics isn't there, yeah that's usually my parents.
[Laughter]
Radzi: Is it tough though in a weird way, having parents and siblings that know exactly what they're looking at because frankly with my mum, I could do anything in television with a microphone she'd go 'he's just brilliant' whereas if she was a producer she'd go 'he messed that link up a little bit, he should really have mentioned this' or whatever. Is it kind of tough them knowing exactly what quality looks like?
Eve: Yes, like my dad no because like he-he curled like he was obviously like he got me into Curling. Um, so he's very like 'oh they're not doing the right thing there', 'oh that's the wrong shot' or you'll go and see him after game, 'why did you not do this?', 'why did you not do that?' and as my mum, like she's-she didn't grow up, she's actually English so she didn't grow up in a curling family or and she obviously knows a lot about Curling now having kind of been around it but like she'll sit there and she'll like they 'ooh they should just hit that one, hit that one'.
[Laughter]
Eve: Dad's like 'oh would you just shut up, no they shouldn't ahh' um so it's quite funny but yes and my brother's obviously being curlers as well like there's a lot of judging going on and a lot of um, opinions. Like everyone is a very good curler from the sofa, aren't they?
Radzi: Correct. I'm one of them you know. It's um, you know when...
Eve: It's enjoyable.
Radzi: Totally, totally. Um, who's the first person you go for a hug if you've performed really well out of interest?
Eve: Ooh first person to go for a hug, probably my teammates to be fair or my coach. Yeah, I thought it's funny but my mom and dad will probably be the last ones if I'm honest.
Radzi: Oh really, okay.
Eve: You know just get a bit emba-you get a bit embarrassed hugging your mum and dad in front of everyone.
Radzi: See my mum would be down on the ice she wouldn't be able to control herself she'd be jumping over and making a-an embarrassment of me. But you mentioned that your mum's English does she regard herself as English or British?
Eve: Oh English, I think yeah.
Radzi: Because I've got this really weird thing where all my family holidays were in or school holidays were in Scotland, all my family are either from Zimbabwe or Scotland. I've got no connection to England but, I've always lived in England. So I support Scotland in any sort of football, or rugby but, I would say I'm British, not Scottish because I've never paid taxes in Scotland, I wasn't educated in Scotland, I don't sound Scottish and so for me, it's kind of I always find it interesting when you hear English people
Eve: Yeah.
Radzi: In Scotland, with Scottish kids, as is, as is the case.
Eve: Yeah, You sound like you're going to have a much more relaxed night watching Scotland v England at football or rugby, in my house it is not. You have dad on one side of the sitting room and mum on the other.
[Laughter]
Eve: One supporting England, one supporting Scotland.
Radzi: We see, I love the snooker and my granny, there was one rule if you watch snooker in her house. You support Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Alan McManus, maybe Graeme Dott and that is it.
Eve: That's it, all the Scottish guys and that is it.
Radzi: That is it.
Eve: I love that. Yeah that's awesome.
Radzi: Well Eve it's been a genuine pleasure chatting to you thank you so much and we're not just going to focus on the Olympic games we need to, first of all, get there first but, all the very best in Beijing and everyone is behind you.
Eve: Thank you, thanks for having me.
[Music] Naked Bacon, One day all bacon will be made this way.
Making Gains with Radzi ep 15 - Team GB Winter Olympian, Ice Queen: Eve Muirhead video