Olympic medallist and two-time World Championship winning coach Greg Drummond has been appointed British Curling’s new Olympic Head Coach and will begin his new role with immediate effect.
The 34-year-old replaces his 2014 Sochi Olympic teammate David Murdoch, who left earlier this year to become Curling Canada’s High Performance Director and does so having built an impressive reputation as a coach, including guiding two separate teams to gold medals at the World Mixed Doubles Championships in 2021 and 2022. 
Immersed in the sport, he lives in Stirling, close to the National Curling Academy, with his wife Vicky who was part of the women’s team that won Olympic and European gold in the 2021/22 season, before she retired from the elite programme following that Beijing triumph.
As an Olympic and two-time World Championship finalist in his playing days, he is also a four-time Scottish Champion who previously worked in public sector finance, having combined his playing career with completing a BA in Business and Enterprise Sport before undertaking a post-graduate degree in International Sports Management while developing his coaching career after joining the British Curling staff in 2018.
Following an intense interview process, Drummond now takes charge of a system in which he has been an integral part of delivering unprecedented success in the last two years, that 2021 World Championship gold medal win for Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat having been the first of 10 victories in major championships for British Curling teams in the past two years. He is consequently fully committed to the processes that have created this gold medal production line. 
“The tremendous success we have enjoyed is testament to the work being done by all the athletes, coaches and practitioners that are part of our programme and this is a great opportunity to build on that,” he said.
“Immediate goals are to ensure we continue to be a leading curling nation, which means constantly looking forward to ensure that we keep delivering and developing the programme through a model that both athletes and staff are proud to be part of and in which they feel motivated to aspire to be part of a pathway that delivers such excellence.”
In saying so, he is acutely aware that just a year into a new Olympic cycle, there are challenges to be addressed, not least in the women’s game since his wife was one of three members of that Beijing winning team to leave the programme at the end of last season, along with the most decorated curler in the history of the British game, Eve Muirhead and Mili Smith.
“It goes without saying that we have experienced a transition period with a cohort of athletes retiring and new athletes and coaches coming on board which is the inevitable period of change at the end of an Olympic cycle,” Drummond observed.
“However we are early in a new Olympiad, which is an exciting prospect and an opportunity I fully intend to make the most of by supporting the development of our athletes both on and off the ice to a point where they can deliver well and to their utmost potential with world class performances.
“It is a positive place to be and a great launchpad for this Olympic cycle as we aim to realise our targets and goals. The starting point is a strong one and we have a strong foundation.”
Drummond has seen massive change in the British Curling set-up since his own playing days and consequently takes on his new job with an ideal combination of that experience and youthful energy, recognising the need to constantly seek new ways of adding value to the system, while building on the solid work that has already been done, particularly since the opening of the National Curling Academy in 2017.
“I made the transition from athlete to performance coach and since making that change I have built my knowledge and experience from managing upwards of 20 athletes over the years,” said Drummond.
“I have enjoyed being part of a dedicated coaching team and this will be my first senior management role, but one I am looking forward to, seeking to build on what I have achieved over the past four years, delivering results at major championships.
“I want to see the next cycle continue the global successes, while also managing a system that sees all of our athletes thrive and contributing to on-going podium results.
“After every Olympics there is an opportunity to reflect and re-assess to ensure our endeavours and application to the process is heading in the best and the right direction.
“Coming into the role at this point, with the engagement of athletes and staff in that collective pursuit of delivering medals and targets in Milan-Cortina and beyond, I want to ensure that everyone is proud to be part of this team and our world class programme. 
“Sport is a fast changing environment and the value of a world class facility like the National Curling Academy, which has provided a platform for so much of our success, can never be underestimated and I fully intend to utilise that facility to best effect so we are continually innovating and developing what we do on a daily basis.”
British Curling’s Executive Performance Director Nigel Holl welcomed Drummond into his new role after he emerged from a strong field of domestic and overseas applicants.
“I would have to say that it generates huge satisfaction and pleasure to see one of our own coaches developing as Greg has in the four years since he joined the programme as a full time coach, not least because it demonstrates the opportunities available to others and our athletes after their playing careers,” he said.
“Greg has learned the ropes since departing the programme as an athlete in 2018 and he came through a rigorous interview process conducted by an accomplished and highly regarded panel of expertise which included Laurie MacDonald, Coaching Advisor at UK Sport, 2018 Olympic Chef de Mission Mike Hay MBE, Eve Muirhead OBE, Scottish Curling interim Chief Executive Vincent Bryson and our own Head Of Performance Services Dave Leith and he was their unanimous choice.”
Images: Team GB/ David Pearce, WCF/ Richard Gray &Celine Stucki
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