Vicky Wright

Before playing for Muirhead, Wright curled for Hannah Fleming. She was the alternate for Scotland at the 2013 World Junior Curling Championships, where the team won a silver medal.^[5] She won the 2018 Scottish Women's Curling Championship as lead for Fleming to qualify for her first World Championship.^[6] At the 2018 World Women's Curling Championship, the team struggled, finishing the round robin with a 5–7 record.^[7]

For the 2018–19 season, Wright joined team Muirhead as the alternate. She played for the team at the first leg of the 2018–19 Curling World Cup as Muirhead had a hip injury.^[8] They finished in sixth with a 2–4 record.^[9] She played in her first European Curling Championships at the 2018 European Curling Championships. The team had a disappointing performance, finishing with a 4–5 record and missing the playoffs.^[10] At the 2019 Scottish Women's Curling Championships, the team qualified for the final but lost to Sophie Jackson 11–7.^[11] Wright also played in the International Mixed Doubles Dumfries that season with Craig Waddell where they lost in the quarterfinals.^[12] To finish off the season, Team Muirhead won the 2019 WCT Arctic Cup.^[13]

The following season, Wright replaced Vicki Chalmers on the team due to Chalmers stepping away from competitive curling. The team won their first event of the 2019–20 season, the 2019 Cameron's Brewing Oakville Fall Classic.^[14] At the 2019 European Curling Championships, the Muirhead rink reached the final where they lost to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg, claiming the silver medal.^[15] In early January, they won the Mercure Perth Masters.^[16] Team Muirhead claimed the 2020 Scottish Women's Curling Championship by defeating Maggie Wilson 8–3 in the championship game.^[17] The team was set to represent Scotland at the 2020 World Women's Curling Championship before the event got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[18]^[19] In Grand Slam play, they played in three events and qualified in one of them, the 2019 National where they lost in the quarterfinals to Jennifer Jones.^[20]

Due to the ongoing pandemic, a limited number of tour events were held during the 2020–21 season. Team Muirhead did play in a series of domestic events put on by the British Curling Association, where they won the January Challenge event and finished runner-up to Team Gina Aitken in the Elite Finals.^[21]^[22] Wright and her mixed doubles partner Grant Hardie lost in the final of the December event to Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat. A "curling bubble" was set up in Calgary, Canada in the spring, which hosted several events, including the 2021 World Women's Curling Championship and two slams.^[23] Team Muirhead competed in both the 2021 Champions Cup and the 2021 Players' Championship, failing to qualify at both events. The next week, the team represented Scotland at the World's, finishing with a disappointing 6–7, in eighth place.^[24]

Because of Scotland's disappointing finish at the 2021 World Championship, the country was relegated to compete in the 2021 Olympic Qualification Event to earn their spot in the 2022 Winter Olympics. To maximize its chances of securing Olympic qualification, British Curling implemented a squad system for nine of its top-level female curlers, five of which would make the team for the 2021 European Curling Championships and the Olympic Qualification Event.^[25] The nine players alternated teams and lineups throughout the five tryout events they competed in: the 2021 Euro Super Series, the 2021 Saint Petersburg Classic, the 2021 The Challenger, the 2021 Women's Masters Basel and the 2021 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic. Wright had successful results at each of the five events, winning The Challenger and finishing runner-up at the Saint Petersburg Classic. She also made the semifinal of the Euro Super Series. On 25 October 2021, British Curling officially announced its team for the European Championship: skip Eve Muirhead, Wright at third, second Jennifer Dodds, lead Hailey Duff and alternate Mili Smith. It was the same lineup that claimed the title at The Challenger.^[26] Prior to the Europeans, the new look Team Muirhead competed in the WCT Tallinn Ladies Challenger where they went undefeated to claim the title.^[27]

At the European Championship, the team was the class of the field, finishing 8–1 through the round robin and qualifying for the playoffs as the number one seed. In the semifinal, they defeated Germany's Daniela Jentsch 7–4 and then went on to win the gold medal by defeating Sweden's Anna Hasselborg by the same score. It was Scotland's first European women's title since 2017.^[28] Their win at the European Championship secured their spot as the British team for the Olympic Qualification Event.^[29] There, the team posted a 6–2 record through the round robin, finishing tied for first with South Korea's Kim Eun-jung and Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa. The tie for the first Olympic spot was broken by draw shot challenge totals, which Great Britain had the best of between the three rinks. This earned the team direct qualification into the Olympic Games without having to play in the qualification games.^[30] On 23 December 2021, Muirhead, Wright, Dodds, Duff, and Smith were officially named to the British Olympic team.^[31]

At the Games, the British team had mixed results through the round robin. Always remaining in the middle of the pact, the team won their last round robin game over the ROC to finish with a 5–4 record, tied for third with Japan's Fujisawa and Canada's Jennifer Jones. Once again, due to draw shot challenge tiebreaking totals, the team qualified for the playoffs, this time as the third seed.^[32] In the semifinal, they faced Sweden's Hasselborg in a rematch of the 2021 European final. Things did not get off to a good start for the team, giving up four points in the first end. They managed to battle their way back, however, stealing a single in the fifth end to tie the score at five-all. After taking four in the ninth end for a commanding 11–8 lead, Sweden scored three in the tenth end to tie the game and force an extra end. There, Muirhead secured the single point for a 12–11 victory and a spot for the team in the gold medal game.^[33] In the final, the British team was dominant against Fujisawa's Japanese team, never trailing en route to a 10–3 victory and the Olympic gold medal.^[34] The "golden girls" ended their incredible season with a quarterfinal finish at the 2022 Players' Championship.^[35]

On 17 May 2022, Wright announced her retirement from the sport.^[36]

Wright was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to curling.^[37]

Career

Personal life

Teams

References

External links

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