Murdoch uses setbacks to fuel Sochi medal dream

David Murdoch admits the heartbreak he suffered at the last two Winter Games has strengthened his desire to sweep to an elusive Olympic medal in Sochi next year.

The Great Britain curling skip took his team of reigning world champions to Turin in 2006 as hot favourites for gold, only to miss out on the final by a single point and lose the bronze medal play-off to the United States. And four years ago in Vancouver, Murdoch’s team also fell short when they exited at the group stage following a defeat by Sweden – whose coach that day, Soren Gran, now oversees the full-time Scotland programme.

In the wake of that defeat, Murdoch’s team broke up and the Lockerbie 34-year-old joined up with Tom Brewster’s team of double world silver medallists with an eye on making it third time lucky.

Brewster and Murdoch, along with Scotland team-mates Scott Andrews, Michael Goodfellow and Greg Drummond, head into the World Championships in British Columbia this weekend with Olympic qualification already effectively secured. And they will be hoping to wrap up the first Scottish world curling double in history in the wake of the triumph by Eve Muirhead’s rink in the women’s championships in Latvia last weekend.

Murdoch said: “It was heartbreaking in the last two Olympics because we were geared up for doing well and we just didn’t manage to achieve. I stepped back and decided I wanted to commit to doing another four years because it is a bit of unfinished business for me.”

Aberdeen skip Brewster is also hungry for success after having to settle for second place at each of the last two World Championships – and missing out on his own dream of reaching the Olympics due to Murdoch beating him to selection.

Brewster said: “I have been trying for a lot of years and been pipped by David. David brings that experience to the team in the sense that he’s been there and done it, and it helps when you have to battle hard on the big occasion.”

Coach Gran is set to give former two-time world champion Murdoch the nod to skip the team in British Columbia, where their current world ranking of two once again makes them serious medal contenders. But Gran insists he is nowhere nearer establishing his final line-up for next year’s Winter Olympics.

He said: “We have been mixing it around to find the right concept and, as a result, we have five players fighting for the right to play.”