After an encouraging performance in China this week, ParalympicsGB’s athletes are hoping to be joined by fresh talent in a bid to emulate the success of their British Curling colleagues as they set out on the road to Milan-Cortina in 2026.
Skip Hugh Nibloe and teammates Gregor Ewan, David Melrose, Meggan Dawson-Farrell and Gary Smith were ultimately unable to match the medal haul of British Curling’s Olympians in the same venue at The Ice Cube in Beijing. However, they demonstrated at stages of every match that they are capable of competing with the best in the sport and have a template to follow in the way that Olympic success was achieved this year. 
Just four years ago in Korea, British Curling’s Olympic contenders returned without a medal, forcing a major re-think, which resulted in nine new players, along with four-time Olympian Eve Muirhead, making the trip to Beijing this time around.
An emphasis on full-time training and the introduction of an innovative nine player squad system brought a dramatic change of fortune this time around as Muirhead led her team to gold in the women’s event and Bruce Mouat skipped his men to silver, while Mouat and Muirhead’s teammate Jen Dodds, narrowly missed out in the Mixed Doubles as they finished fourth, having won their World Championship together last year.
In launching its “Push Yourself” campaign, designed to encourage recruitment to the sport, British Curling is now looking to apply the lessons learned to its Paralympic programme.
“Since the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang four years ago there have been major changes to our Paralympic squad following the retirements from the sport of previous stalwarts of the programme Aileen Neilson, Angie Malone and Bob McPherson,” said British Curling’s Executive Performance Director Nigel Holl.
“Our Paralympic Head Coach Sheila Swan has done a fine job in introducing new athletes to the squad in a particularly challenging Paralympic cycle that has seen the opportunity to compete on the international stage much reduced by the restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID pandemic.
“Ahead of the Games, they also had to deal with the loss through injury of Charlotte McKenna, one of the originally selected players, as well as a worrying injury in the closing stages of their campaign to David Melrose, who is thankfully also now well on the road to recovery.
“In spite of all that, a five-player team containing three Paralympic debutants remained highly competitive, winning four of their 10 matches. 
“However, our experiences at the Olympics and the Paralympics have, in their different ways, reinforced the importance of generating increased internal domestic competition to drive standards.
“That has resulted in both Team Mouat and Team Muirhead now reaching the number one spot in their respective world rankings and we now believe we have the knowhow to maximise the potential of our Wheelchair Curling programme.”
The ‘Push Yourself’ campaign is aimed at drawing wheelchair curlers of all abilities, including those like 2014 Commonwealth Games track athlete Dawson-Farrell, who has revelled in the team environment since switching sports to curling and there is recognition with the current squad of the benefits that increasing strength and depth can bring.
“Going back home and with the support from The National Lottery and the squad mates that we’ve got, we’ll hopefully get the chance to build,” said skip Nibloe, in reflecting on the Beijing experience.
“We’ve now got three more Paralympians in the squad, so that’s going to add experience and they’re going to go back and tell everybody how good it is to play for Great Britain and represent ParalympicsGB.
“Hopefully we’ll find more players in the next couple of years and we’ll come back fighting and have a stronger squad in four years time.”
After competing at his second Paralympics, while vice skip Ewan was at his third, Nibloe believes the groundwork has been laid on which to build success. 
“This could be the first step towards achieving something special,” he said.
“Obviously we select from a squad and there are some good players in amongst that squad. They’ll be putting their hands up when they get home and they’ll be wanting to get their shot, but if everybody’s like me and wants to keep being at the top and being at your best, it means you have to keep improving.
“Hopefully that will build the unity and I’m sure Sheila will have us raring and fighting to go for the next championships.”
Images: ParalympicsGB
The ‘Push Yourself’ wheelchair curling promo is available on our website and social media channels and those interested should contact: paralympic.talent@britishcurling.org.uk
