It may be the height of summer, but for Team GB Chef de Mission Eve Muirhead, it's all systems go for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
In the lead up to the Games, the former competitive curler is opening the doors and giving us a sneak peek at what it takes to lead a delegation.
The second part in the Team GB series, get ready to go behind the scenes; welcome to Diary of a Chef: Part Two.
We can safely say that we had a very successful winter season, our most successful world championship season to date across all the winter sports. We had nine world medals which is a phenomenal tally but it's not about looking back to that, it's now about looking to what we have ahead of us.
And with a successful winter season, comes Team GB's first official team announcement of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games. Even better when it's a sport so close to Muirhead's heart.
You're in this role and what you want is to name those athletes. I know from being on the other side, that officially getting announced is something that could only happen once in your lifetime and it's an amazing opportunity, so I want these athletes to be proud of themselves and recognise what they've done to earn this. To have this first announcement under the belt and for it to be curling, I really want them to grab this with both hands and realise that between now and the Games they have a great opportunity to put their foot on the gas and make a difference. To be able to name them on Team GB as the first selected athletes it's great.
Team Mouat deserve to be back at the Games. The performances they have put in since winning that silver medal back in Beijing, we can expect a lot from them. And I know from each of them, they are there to do business and not settle for second best. Then we have Jen [Dodds] who has put a lot of work into the mixed doubles and then stepping into Rebecca Morrison's team and being a huge addition there. She will be the only returning gold medallist to the Olympic Games for Team GB which is such an accolade and achievement in itself. For that team she brings a lot of experience and can help them along. They did a fantastic job securing that quota for the Games at the world champs. British Curling have created such a great base to catapult these guys to the top.
The team was announced at the Team GB Summit in Edinburgh this week. The summit is one of the most important events for Team GB on the journey to Milano Cortina, because it's the one and only time we can be all together as a delegation due to the widespread nature of the Games.
For us, it was a great chance for athletes, support staff and HQ staff altogether, to showcase the Games and give them as much intel as we can. I wanted the athletes to learn from each other and to make the most of the opportunity that they have. From team dinners, to the kit reveal to training opportunities, it is a great time for us to showcase the talent and resilience of the athletes in that room. It all comes down to that 'One Team' and 'One Team GB' mentality. We may arrive as individuals at the Games but I want us to leave as a team. At my first Games, I didn't know what a Chef de Mission was, so I want these guys to know what I'm doing there and my role.
As her role as Chef de Mission, Muirhead joined forces with the rest of the National Olympic Committee Chefs at the first joint seminar back in March. A key step in her preparation for the upcoming Games and one that she found invaluable as she continues to learn just what it takes to lead a delegation.
To be honest, the scale of work at the Chef de Mission seminar was a bit of a surprise due to me being an athlete transitioning into this role. Finding out what the International Olympic Committee do to make the NOC's feel part of the Games and what that takes, across every single fine detail, was amazing.
It was a great opportunity for me to meet a lot of the Chefs from other countries as well. That was great because I'm a new face in that world and so I had a lot of people come up to me and introduce themselves. Those few days were invaluable because I managed to network so much and realise the scale of what we have in front of us.
I'm loving the role. I'm very proud to have had the opportunity to be in this position. Even though it's a one person job on paper, I'm incredibly lucky to have an amazing team around me. It's of course very different to being an athlete and it's taking a lot of getting used to. There is still a lot I'm trying to get my head around and understand but my team are always there to help. They must be sick of all my questions but I'll still ask them!
Sportsbeat 2025