The British Olympic Association has today announced the six curlers who will compete in the men’s and mixed doubles disciplines at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
All six athletes, who are the first athletes selected to Team GB for the Games, will make their Olympic debuts in Beijing, with Bruce Mouat competing in both disciplines. Men’s skip, Mouat, will be accompanied by Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan. Whilst, Ross Whyte, who skips a rival British Curling team that has made a major impact on the international scene in recent seasons, once again joins them as alternate, as he has regularly done at World and European Championships.
Mouat will also play alongside Jen Dodds in the mixed doubles event, whom he won the mixed doubles World Championships with earlier this year, and in doing so will become the first British athlete to compete in two curling competitions at a Winter Games after that discipline was introduced to the Games for the first time in PyeongChang in 2018.
The selection of Team Mouat for the men’s competition is a reward for their ground-breaking performances over recent years. In 2017, in their first season together, they became the first British men’s team to win one of the prestigious Grand Slam titles in Canada and they went on to claim a World Championship bronze medal the following year, before winning the European Championship later in 2018.
Since then they have steadily climbed the world rankings, where they are currently third on the back of winning silver at the World Championships earlier this year, ahead of achieving an unprecedented double when they claimed back-to-back Grand Slam titles in Canada.
“I’m absolutely delighted to finally get the news that we’re going to be heading to Beijing,” said Mouat.
“It’s so exciting and testament to the effort that all of us have put in over the last four years to get to this point.
“We’re obviously going to aim really high when we’re there and we’re hoping to come home with some medals.
“In terms of the mixed doubles it’s all the more exciting to be able to play in both events. I don’t think I ever dreamed of being able to play in two Olympic disciplines when I was younger, just because it wasn’t a thing, so to have that opportunity now and to be the first British Olympian to do so makes it even better. It’s something I will have for the rest of my life and that’s something I’ll cherish.”
Mouat and 24-year-old Lammie have played together throughout their senior careers, having won the World Junior Curling Championship together in 2016.
They joined forces in 2017 with 29-year-old cousins Hardie, the team’s vice skip and McMillan, who are continuing a family tradition by becoming Olympians. McMillan’s father, Hammy Sr, played in 1992 when curling was a demonstration sport in Albertville, as well as at Salt Lake City in 2002.
However, Mouat’s longest association with one of his teammates is with Dodds.
“It means a lot to have a friend that I’m playing alongside at the Olympics. Hopefully we can represent Team GB with pride and do everyone in Great Britain proud,” he said.
Dodds’ Olympic selection was the perfect birthday present after she turned 30 at the beginning of this month.
“To be selected for my first Olympics means so much,” she said.
“It’s obviously something we’ve been striving towards for years. Every cycle I’ve been in that’s been the goal, so it’s a great honour to be selected as part of Team GB for this one.
“It means a lot to be in the team with Bruce as well. We’ve known each other for so long. We started at the same club, so sharing this moment together is something really special.”
Commenting on selection, Team GB Chef de Mission for the Beijing Olympic Winter Games, Georgie Harland, said: “Being selected for your first Olympic Games is an incredibly exciting moment and it gives me great pride to announce our very first athletes to the team for the Games and welcome such a talented group of curlers to Team GB for Beijing 2022.
“Team GB have a established curling record at the Olympic Games and it’s fantastic to see our current World Champions providing us with representation in the mixed doubles discipline for the first time, while our men’s team is also currently ranked among the very best in the sport.”
British Curling Executive Performance Director Nigel Holl said: “The successes achieved at the end of last season, when Bruce and Jen won the World Mixed Doubles title just a few weeks after Team Mouat reached the World Men’s Championship final demonstrated the benefits of the innovative approach British Curling took, particularly in introducing in-house competition when international competition was cancelled for more than a year due to lockdown.
“The athletes responded magnificently to that and we are delighted that Bruce, Jen, Grant, Bobby, Hammy and Ross have earned this opportunity to make their Olympic debuts.”
Men’s Team
Bruce Mouat (Edinburgh)
Grant Hardie (Dumfries)
Bobby Lammie (Dumfries)
Hammy McMillan (Stranraer)
Ross Whyte (alternate) (York)
Mixed Doubles Team
Bruce Mouat (Edinburgh)
Jen Dodds (Edinburgh)