One of the finest Scottish sporting careers of the modern era has ended with the announcement that world champion curler David Murdoch has decided to quit playing in order to focus on coaching.

The 39-year-old admitted his decision had ultimately been prompted by his omission from the British team to contest next year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the first time the 2014 Sochi finalist has missed out since 2002. However, the two-time world champion and three-time European champion, who has skipped teams to nine Olympic, World and European finals was aware that he could not continue to compete at the highest level forever and reluctantly accepted Team Smith’s selection for Pyeongchang as the signal that his time at the top was up.

“After the announcement regarding PyeongChang I had to think about what would come next,” he said. “I had always wanted to pursue my coaching and management ambitions and now I feel ready for that.”

Murdoch and his colleagues, Greg Drummond, Scott Andrews and Michael Goodfellow had looked to be in prime position to return to the Olympic stage when they claimed a timely victory at the Scottish Championships this year, the eighth senior national title of his career, but the failure to win a medal gave the selectors a more difficult decision to make and Kyle Smith’s team was deemed to have sufficient form to get the nod.

Murdoch publicly questioned that decision at the time, but recognised its significance and, having been selected last year on to the World Curling Federation’s athlete’s commission, while he has also dabbled with media work in examining his options he is excited about exploring them further, for all that he acknowledged that he probably needed to be forced to do so.

“Given my involvement with WCF, the non-athlete side of curling has become much more appealing,” said Murdoch.

“I have had to re-adjust, as my goal was to get to the next Olympics and I really had to decide if it was the end or not. To be honest I am not sure if things had been different if I would have known when the right time was to stop. It would have been hard to walk away but I have been thinking about alternative options for some time and you have to eventually make the decision to start getting those plans underway.

“It was a tough decision but at the same time I am incredibly grateful for all I have achieved in the sport, the opportunities it has given me and the titles I have won.”

While the selectors’ decision was revealed less than a fortnight ago, the rumour mill had been sufficiently productive to ensure that he had alternative offers on the table, including coaching posts overseas, but he has turned those down to stay with the British Curling programme as he sets out on his coaching career.

That will give him the chance to work in the new national academy that he campaigned to see established and having been one of the first curlers in the world to go full-time 14 years ago, Murdoch believes that facility can help Scotland and Great Britain remain competitive in a sport that is growing quickly across the globe.

“There are exciting times ahead with the national centre where curlers can come and achieve better things. I am a bit sad that I won’t be training there but I will be coaching and learning at the same time and I have high ambitions for where I want to go in this sport in a new direction now and this facility will benefit everyone involved in the game,” he observed.

As he seeks to offer the benefit of his experience to the next generation, he can meanwhile reflect on a career in which, particularly when finally earning that previously elusive Olympic medal three years ago, he managed to accrue every honour he set out to achieve and more.

“Looking back, when I won the World Junior Championships I remember wishing I could one day be a national champion. In some ways I have achieved far more than I ever dreamed of – going on to win national, European and World titles,” he said.

“For me, there were no regrets there, I had lots of great experiences and life lessons and I have made amazing friends all around the world, from fans, coaches, team mates and opponents. I especially want to thank my team mates, support staff and coaches for their incredible dedication and, of course, my wife Stephanie and my family, who made every success possible.”

He ends his career as the most decorated Scottish curler of all time and British Curling performance director Graeme Thompson duly paid tribute to that while expressing his delight that he will continue to contribute.

“David has had a tremendous career with his successes spanning several decades and includes all the major honours possible.

“I am delighted that he will continue to inspire the curlers coming through the programme. I have enjoyed working closely with him as a player and am very pleased to continue that as a colleague.

“His expertise and knowledge which he will be contributing into our staff structure will be immensely valuable and overall he will be playing a vital part in developing the future of the game,” he said.