Scotland’s Eve Muirhead announced her retirement, six months after skipping Great Britain to its first Olympic curling title in 20 years.
“I have made the hardest decision of my life to hang up my curling shoes and retire.” the 32-year-old Muirhead posted on social media last Thursday. “Retiring from curling as a current European, World and Olympic champion is something I always dreamt of, and I am signing off with a huge smile on my face.”
Muirhead was a prodigy from the home of curling, winning her first of four world junior titles at age 16. At 19, she was the youngest skip at the Vancouver Olympics, where her rink placed seventh.
She earned her first senior world medal a month later (silver), her first senior world title in 2013 and in 2014 became the youngest skip to win an Olympic medal (bronze). She capped her career with gold in the Olympic women’s tournament in Beijing and a world title in mixed doubles in April.
Muirhead started curling at age 9, tagging along with her father, Gordon, an Olympic curler in 1992 when it was a demonstration sport. Muirhead’s brothers, Glen and Thomas, also competed in Olympic curling in 2018.
Muirhead declined scholarship offers to play college golf in the U.S. to pursue curling. She is also a world-class bagpiper, according to the Scottish curling federation.
At age 11, she stayed up late to watch Rhona Martin’s rink win Great Britain’s first Olympic women’s curling title in 2002. Martin’s last stone to win gold was named the “Stone of Destiny” and put on display at the National Museum Of Scotland.
NBC Olympic research contributed to this report.
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