Curling: Gold medal bid adds extra spice to big year

However, in what is a highly technical and, for many, a surprisingly athletic sport, her contribution is not only vital in terms of creating positions that Sloan and Muirhead can capitalise upon, but when in the most physically demanding aspect, the sweeping which, as Countryfile’s former gymnast Matt Baker discovered when the popular BBC show ran a curling special recently, is much more challenging than it appears.

Attitudes to that unique way of influencing the outcome of every delivery, separating curling from other target sports, can be a bone of contention,as another TV presenter, Eammon Holmes, discovered after the last Winter Olympics when, directing his enquiry Adams’s way, he rather gormlessly suggested the team must have the country’s cleanest floors. 

Whether he would have put the same question to their fellow medallists, Dave Murdoch’s men, only Holmes knows. He was, though, to discover that it is not only the skip, famed for her laser-like intensity in the heat of battle, who can turn on the glare and that time it was Muirhead who had to intervene and smooth things over.

Aware of that background and even having known them for a few years, it consequently felt slightly risky to make that frivolous connection with The Spice Girls, but fortunately Adams saw the funny side, chuckling before pointing out on her parents’ behalf: “I was around way before The Spice Girls were formed.”

As to whether her fiancée has had to put up with being the ‘Becks’ to her ‘Posh’, she added: “His friends haven’t cottoned on to that one.”
However, while pointing out that the coincidences do not extend to his name, there was then a moment of dawning and another giggle as she realised: “…David’s his middle name actually!”

Mr Andrew Chalmers, a member of curling aristocracy in his own right since father Hew has been a member of both the British Curling and British Olympic Association boards, has our apologies if his chums pick up on it now, but there is a serious aspect to this wedding chat, because her plans have had short-term benefits for her personal preparation for this trip to PyeongChang, but carry potential long-term complications for the team.

“It’s been quite a nice distraction. I like to be quite organised and have everything the way that I want it, so it’s quite nice to have had another focus away from the curling and it’s obviously a big milestone in your life, so it’s been great,” she said of the impact of the planning.

However, beyond that there are logistical issues for a woman who is based in the central belt, but hails from the south-west.

“There’s a lot to consider. Andrew and I got together just before the last Olympics, but have been living apart for the last four years,” Adams pointed out. “He’s in Stranraer, which is actually home for me. We’ve made it work, but I’m not sure that’s the way I want our married life to go, so there’s a lot to discuss with the programme.”

Never mind Becks, the impression could be created that he is set for the Yoko role, getting blamed for breaking up the band, but there is no need for concern on that score just yet.

“When we don’t have curling competitions we have weekends at home with family and friends. We see that as quite an important part of our training balance and he’s got quite a flexible job as well where he is able to do quite a bit of work from home, so we’ve made it work so far,” Adams pointed out. “Andrew’s very supportive of the curling as well. He comes from a curling background too, so having that support is massive and I’d still like to see myself competing for sure. It’s finding a balance that will work.”

As this season’s European champions and having claimed Britain’s first medal since Rhona Martin delivered her 2002 ‘stone of destiny’ , when they won the bronze medal play-off four years ago, they are among the favourites in South Korea. As Adams noted, too, they are a five woman team, rather than a girl band, Canadian-based Kelly Schafer very much a part of it as their bench ‘alternate’, who has already seen substantial action this season.

“We’ve had a great season and obviously with Anna out at the start of it with a knee injury, it gave Kelly the chance to have some game time, so we feel we’re prepared for anything,” said Adams. “Our training and competition schedule has been adapted to suit us to peak for the Olympics and the Europeans. 

“We’ve been really on form so far, so performance-wise it is about taking the games as they come, then hopefully make the play-offs where it’s a brand new competition.”

While all are still in their twenties in a sport in which players can remain competitive until their fifties, their coach, Canadian Glenn Howard, remains a top 20 skip in the men’s world rankings, having won World Championships in four separate decades, they have the ideal blend of youth and experience.

“As much as we’re a young team we’ve been to a lot of major events, so I think we’re the best prepared that we can be and we just need to play to that,” said Adams. “When it comes down to the competition itself the Olympics are just like the Europeans, or maybe more the Worlds because you’ve got your Asian and American teams coming in, so we’re not playing against teams we’ve never played against before. When you simplify it down to that it makes it much easier to comprehend and we shouldn’t be daunted by the whole experience.”

As for the medal she and her team-mates prize most, then, they may still be wannabes, but Adams and the rest of the band have put in the work required to get what they most want over the next couple of weeks.