In our Spring 2026 issue we highlighted that local ICU nurse and Olympic Gold Medallist Vicky Drummond (nee Wright) joined the BBC’s presenting team for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
Vicky was part of the GB Women Curling’s team who won Britain’s only gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. She retired from the sport later than year and was awarded an MBE in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to curling.
Staff News caught up with Vicky following her recent decision to come out of retirement to participate in the GB Curling mixed doubles programme with partner Euan Kyle.
After retiring following Olympic gold in 2022, what was the moment that made you realise you wanted to compete again?
I can’t really say there was a precise moment when I realised I wanted to curl again. It sort of built up over a period of time. I knew I was always going to miss it when I stopped but I was happy and fully believed I had retired from elite curling. However, in 2024, only a couple of months after having Sophie, I had the opportunity to coach a young girls’ team every week at the national curling academy, and this definitely was the spark to ignite those competitive juices again.
The final push, I would say, was being at the Olympics Milano Cortina and getting to commentate for the BBC and watch the curling from inside the venue. It made me realise how special an opportunity an Olympic Games is, and how awesome it is to be out there trying to showcase your best performance and fight for the medals. I could feel I still had that fire inside me and I needed to see if it was possible to go back.
You have balanced family life, a career as an intensive care nurse, and coaching young curlers. What gave you the confidence that now was the right time to return to international competition?
Other nations like Sweden and Canada have very strong ladies teams and many of them are mums. In recent history in British curling, as it has become a more professional sport, there hasn’t been a female athlete who is also mum. There has been a cultural shift and the programme realised that they are losing female athletes because many do not feel they can do both. I am fortunate I have been to the top and achieved the Olympic Gold, I am going back because I would like to do it again, rather than their being this pressure of I must reach that goal. If I can pave the way for other female athletes to be able to do both, that is success to me.
You mentioned that being part of the BBC team at the Winter Olympics reignited your passion for curling. What was it about that experience that inspired you to get back on the ice?
I loved my BBC commentating experience. It was really interesting and great to see what it was like from the other side of the cameras. But I think being so close to the rink and seeing the players and speaking to them and watching them really fight for those medals, I knew I still had that fight in me too.
You’ll be competing in mixed doubles with Euan Kyle. What excites you most about that partnership, and what are your ambitions for the season ahead?
I am really excited to be playing with Euan, we went to primary school together, are from the same curling cub and he is such a great guy to be around. He has been supportive and patient with me coming back, he is a genuine good guy who just wants to do anything to get the best out of you. He also has a little boy, so understands the challenges of having kids. We’re looking at this being an 18-month project to really allow us time to learn the mixed double game and also for me to get back into the swing of training and competing again. Obviously when we step on the ice, we always want to win, but we are focused on our progress goals rather than outcome at this moment.
Looking back at your Olympic success and everything that has happened since, does this return feel like a continuation of your curling career or the start of a completely new chapter?
To be honest a little bit of both. This is new discipline for me, albeit I have played it a little in the past, but it wasn’t my main focus at all. However, the fact that Eve (Muirhead) is also coming out of retirement and we are training on ice together, it feels like old times and a continuation. It certainly doesn’t feel like four years has passed. But it is a new chapter as life is very different this time round.
