Eve Muirhead heads into action in the Scottish Curling Championships at Perth's Dewar's Ice Rink this weekend powered by a sense of injustice after the way she was denied the chance to defend her world title last year because her own governing body would not let her compete.

 
She and her rink had won the world title in 2013, but were shocked to be told they would not be allowed to defend it because the national championships, which double as the qualifying competition for the worlds, were to be staged while she was representing Great Britain at the Olympics.
Bizarrely, in a sport where the average age of participants in Scotland is thought to be 60-plus, the official explanation was that others were being offered the chance to gain experience. Muirhead was 22 when she won the world title.
Consequently, as the 2014 Scottish champions struggled, winning just two of their 11 round-robin matches, she could only watch from afar as they battled against opponents her team had competed against when claiming a medal at the Winter Olympics a few weeks earlier.
Time has allowed her to become a bit more philosophical, but she still believes she and her rink were wronged.
"I would even have been happier if we'd got the chance at the Scottish Championships and didn't win it," says Muirhead.
"As long as we were given the chance to play . . . Watching it and seeing teams we'd beaten at the Olympic Games and teams we'd lost to at the Olympic Games that we wanted another shot at, it did make it frustrating.
"It was hard to take, it was disappointing, but it's in our own hands this year. We've got the Scottish Championship and we need to make sure and come out on top in that to get back to the worlds, and then the ball's in our court again."
In a sense, then, this weekend can be seen as marking the start of a belated defence of the world title.
"I guess in our own heads, not having been there last year, a little bit of it is defending our own title," she agrees. "It gives me a little bit more motivation."
Not that she ever gives the impression of requiring anything to provide that. There is an almost intimidating intensity about Muirhead when on the ice which, by all accounts, carries into her efforts off it to ensure that she and her team are the very best they can be.
That has arguably contributed to what many would consider to be the sort of flawed thinking that led to that decision to squeeze her out of the Scottish Championship last year. While the men's event looks set to be more open next week, Muirhead's rink has become dominant in the domestic women's game, also helping to fuel arguments about how funding is distributed in the sport.
On that subject Muirhead is as direct as might be expected.
"When I first started deciding I wanted to curl full-time back in 2009, 2010, when I wasn't getting paid, I had to drive up and down from Blair Atholl to Stirling three or four times a week," she points out.
"These are the choices you make, then I was successful and then I got some funding and then that allowed me to move to Stirling, which made it slightly easier. So I always believe you have to work to get the funding and not just get handed things on your plate because it's tough.
"You definitely have to earn it and if you make the choice that you want to really push for your curling then that's what you have to do."
A combination of that support from the British Curling programme, prize money and, in particular, backing from her personal sponsor Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), adds up to decent earnings and Muirhead is keenly aware of both the opportunity that provides and the need to capitalise.
"SEP have been fantastic, not just the sponsorship but the people as well. Their support has been great because being an athlete it's hard," she explains.
"You've got to make a lot of, I want to say sacrifices, but it's more choices, so when you have some back-up from a sponsor it definitely helps you in a lot of different ways. You can buy yourself better food, you can generally have a better lifestyle. Without that help the medals I've won the last few years would have been difficult."
All of which, she knows, is anathema to some in the sport who have a very different view of what it takes to be a leading curler, preferring to hark back to the attitudes and approach that were prevalent when her father Gordon, also a world champion, was in his prime a couple of decades ago.
"Back in the day when he was a top curler I know for a fact that Dad's warm-up was a fag and cup of coffee, and there are still lots of people in curling who have frowned upon changes being made and who are stuck in the old ways when, I think, you have to realise that sport is moving on and curling is a sport and curling is moving on," Muirhead notes.
"It's crucial that the people in charge of the sport take note of that, if you know what I mean, and realise that the world is moving on, the sport is moving on in a lot of different ways."
The most obvious comparison is the land in which the girl from Blair Atholl has something approaching superstar status. Invited to draw comparison, she acknowledged: "We're just a little bit behind Canada."
Prompted further as to whether she meant "a little bit" or was being diplomatic, the response was swift and to the point.
"Diplomatic!"
As to whether the gap could be closed, she provided perspective.
"I'd love to say yes, but it's going to be tough, because in Canada you walk into a restaurant, you walk into a McDonald's . . . even we went for a coffee when we were back and there was curling on the TV. That's not a joke," Muirhead said.
"Can you imagine walking into a McDonald's here and there being curling on the TV or even like a sports bar or anything? I'd love the sport to get bigger, but we need to get a bit more TV coverage. 
"I know for a fact we're trying to get a few tournaments over here and attract some of the top Canadian teams, but first things first, to get those teams we have to have good ice conditions, you want to have good competition and a good prize pot.
"That's what attracts us to Canada. Teams aren't going to be willing to travel to Scotland when those things aren't in place."
Yet the good news for those seeking to promote the domestic game, if not for her local rivals, is that attractive as the environment is in Canada in competitive terms, other aspects of living there are less so.
"Last week in Calgary it was minus 25 . . . I can't cope with that," says Muirhead. "It's bitter, it's horrible. You open the car door and you can't breathe. I love Scotland, I love the countryside here and as a team we discussed it, but two weeks is long enough going out there to compete.
"Any more you get a little bit stale and you want to come home and the day you don't want to be there, that's the day when you're not going to carry on winning. It's the same as with practice. The day you don't want to turn up at the rink and practise is a problem. You want to be there and do it every time and I've got that mentality just now."
All in all it seems it may be a while before she relinquishes that Scottish title again.