GB men 'can take curling medal'

By Elizabeth Hudson

MacDonald was the youngest member of the 2002 curling team

Great Britain curler Ewan MacDonald wants to make up for the disappointment of Salt Lake City with a Winter Olympic medal in Turin.

MacDonald was part of the GB team that missed out on a medal four years ago, although wife Fiona won gold as part of the women's squad.

"We were very disappointed not to have made the play-off stages last time," he told BBC Sport.

"I'm delighted to have the chance to go back to Turin and try to get a medal."

The 30-year-old from Inverness is one of two veterans of the 2002 side along with Warwick Smith, and they are joined by Craig Wilson, Euan Byers and skip David Murdoch.

The rink warmed up for Turin with a bronze medal in the European Championships in Denmark in December and go into the Games ranked third behind Canada and Norway.

And MacDonald is confident the team can maintain their form for the Olympic event which begins on 13 February.

"Although the selection of the team has been different this time around with a squad system in place, the effort that everyone is putting in is similar to the last Games," he said.

GB men's schedule 13 Feb: GB v Italy, GB v New Zealand 15 Feb: GB v Canada, GB v Norway 16 Feb: GB v Germany 17 Feb: GB v Sweden 18 Feb: GB v Switzerland 19 Feb: GB v USA, GB v Finland

"We've been working hard on physical training and we have had a strength and conditioning programme which included a four-day camp in Cyprus, which we didn't have last time around.

"On the ice, it's a lot of the same work as before. We've all got individual training programmes and shots we practise on a regular basis."

In Salt Lake City, Ewan and wife Fiona famously had a 'no-nookie' rule when both were competing and this time around Fiona will be staying at home in Scotland with the couple's young son Jake.

"Having Jake means it is not quite as easy for Fiona to go to major events but she will certainly be following the team's progress on television," he said.

"Personally, I think having been at an Olympics before is an advantage. You have a better knowledge of what goes on and have already experienced the atmosphere and the level of interest.

Hopefully we can perform to the standard we know we can GB skip David Murdoch

"The Olympics are so different to a World or European Championship.

"On the ice, you need a bit of luck but if that all works out, there is no reason why we can't win a medal."

Skip David Murdoch also believes his side have a great chance to come away with an Olympic medal.

"We're a complete unit - the boys have every confidence in my ability and I have every confidence in theirs to make the shots," said the Lockerbie farmer whose brother Neil narrowly missed out on selection for the team.

"There were seven Olympic teams at the Europeans and we beat them all which gives us a lot of confidence.

"Hopefully in Turin we can perform to the standard we know we can. If we do that we have every chance of reaching the last four and hopefully coming away with a medal. The women's success in 2002 has been an inspiration to us.

"Taking part in an Olympics is something I've dreamt about since I started curling 17 years ago and coming back home with a medal would be great," he said.