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Thomas Muirhead (curler)

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Thomas Muirhead
Curler
Born (1995-04-11) 11 April 1995 (age 29)
Perth, Scotland
Team
Curling clubDunkeld CC,
Pitlochry, SCO[1]
Curling career
Member Association Scotland
 Great Britain
European Championship
appearances		2 (2015, 2017)
Olympic
appearances		1 (2018)
Medal record
Men's Curling
Representing  Scotland
European Curling Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 St Gallen
World Junior Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2013 Sochi
Silver medal – second place 2014 Flims
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Östersund
Representing  Great Britain
Winter Universiade
Silver medal – second place 2013 Trentino
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Granada

Thomas Brandon Muirhead (born 11 April 1995)[2] is a retired Scottish curler from Blair Atholl.[3] He was the longtime third for the Kyle Smith rink. During his career, he competed for Great Britain at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, placing fifth. He also played for Scotland at two European Curling Championships, two Winter Universiade and three World Junior Curling Championships, winning the event in 2013. Muirhead's brother Glen and sister Eve are also British curlers, and their father Gordon is also a former professional curler.

Career

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Juniors

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During his junior career, Muirhead played third for the Kyle Smith rink. The team represented Scotland at three World Junior Curling Championships from 2012 to 2014. In 2012, the team, also consisting of Smith, Kyle Waddell, Kerr Drummond and Hammy McMillan Jr. went 7–2 through the round robin before losing the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game to Norway's Markus Høiberg. However, they avenged this loss in the bronze medal game when they defeated the same Norwegian team to finish third.[4] In 2013, the team, now with Cammy Smith playing lead instead of Drummond, topped the round robin with an 8–1 record. They then beat Canada's Matt Dunstone in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game and then defeated Russia's Evgeny Arkhipov to secure the gold medal.[5] It was Scotland's first time winning the event since 1996.[6] Later in the year, the Smith rink led Great Britain to a silver medal at the 2013 Winter Universiade (representing Scottish Agricultural College). After a 6–3 record in the round robin, they lost to Sweden's Oskar Eriksson in the final.[7] At the 2014 World Junior Curling Championships, the team, now with Duncan Menzies at alternate instead of McMillan went 6–3 in the round robin, but were able to defeat Norway in the 1 vs. 2 game to once again qualify for the final. There, they were bested by Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller, settling for silver.[8] In 2015, the team once again represented Great Britain at the Winter Universiade. At the 2015 Winter Universiade, Muirhead, Smith, Grant Hardie, Alasdair Schreiber and Stuart Taylor, representing Scotland's Rural College, would finish with a 6–3 round robin record. This once again earned them a spot in the playoffs, where they lost to Russia's Arkhipov in the semifinal. They were, however, able to secure the bronze medal with a 7–4 victory over Sweden's Patric Mabergs.[9]

Men's

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In 2014, Muirhead and his brother Glen joined the Tom Brewster rink. The team won three events in their first season together, the Swiss Cup Basel, the Curling Masters Champery and the Dumfries Curling Challenge.[10][11][12] They would miss out on the playoffs at the 2015 Scottish Men's Curling Championship, finishing with a 4–5 record. The following season, Muirhead returned to playing for the Kyle Smith rink, which also included Kyle Waddell and Cammy Smith.

In October 2015, the team won the qualifier for the 2015 European Curling Championships, defeating the Brewster rink in the best-of-three final.[13] They would go on to miss the playoffs at the Europeans after losing in a tiebreaker to Sweden's Niklas Edin.[14] The 2015–16 season also marked Team Smith's first tour win together at the Edinburgh International where they defeated Jaap van Dorp to claim the title.[15]

The 2016–17 season was a breakthrough season for the Smith rink, beginning at the Oakville Fall Classic where they captured the event title.[16] They also reached the semifinals at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, the Swiss Cup Basel and the Red Deer Curling Classic. In Grand Slam play, the team in four events. The team's best finish came at the 2016 GSOC Tour Challenge where they made it all the way to the final before being defeated by the Edin rink.[17][18] They also made the semifinals at the 2017 Players' Championship but were again eliminated by Team Edin. At the Scottish Men's Curling Championship, they finished third after losing both the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game and semifinal to the David Murdoch and Bruce Mouat rinks respectively. They ended their season at the 2017 Euronics European Masters where they beat the Edin rink in the final.[19]

In June 2017, it was announced that British Curling had selected the Smith rink to represent Great Britain at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.[20] The team were chosen as they were the top ranked British team on the 2016–17 World Curling Tour rankings, despite having never won the Scottish Men's Championship.[21] They were also chosen over the Murdoch, Mouat and Brewster rinks, which caused controversy due to the Murdoch rink winning the 2017 Scottish Championship. However, because they missed out on the playoffs at the 2017 World Men's Curling Championship, the advantage was ultimately handed to the Smith rink.[21]

Leading up to the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Smith rink did not have the best season on tour. They failed to make it past the quarterfinals in any of their fall events and missed the playoffs at both the 2017 GSOC Tour Challenge and the 2017 Masters. Due to their selection as the British Olympic team, they already qualified to represent Scotland at the 2017 European Curling Championships. There, the team went 6–3 through the round robin, qualifying for the playoffs. They then defeated the higher seeded Switzerland's Peter de Cruz rink before losing in the final to the Edin rink, earning the silver medal.[22] Before the Games, they played in three more tour events, with their best finish coming at the German Masters where they lost in the final to Marc Pfister.[23] At the Olympics, the team had mixed results throughout the round robin, ultimately finishing tied for third with a 5–4 record.[24] This put them into a tiebreaker against the Swiss de Cruz rink, which they lost 9–5, eliminating them from contention.[25] Immediately following the Games, the team played in a best-of-three playoff against the Mouat rink to determine who would represent Scotland at the 2018 World Men's Curling Championship, which the Mouat rink won two games to one. In their final event of the season, Team Smith reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 Players' Championship, where they once again were defeated by the Edin rink. After the season, Kyle Waddell left the team and Muirhead's brother Glen took over skipping duties, moving Smith to third on the team.[26]

During the 2018–19 season, Team Muirhead found success in all but one of their tour events. In November, they captured the Ashley HomeStore Curling Classic event title by defeating the Ross Paterson rink in an all-Scottish final.[27] They also reached the final of both the Curling Masters Champéry and the Mercure Perth Masters, as well as the semifinals of the Qinghai Curling Elite.[28] They competed in one Grand Slam, the 2018 Tour Challenge Tier 2, where they lost in the quarterfinals to the Kirk Muyres rink. At the Scottish Men's Curling Championship, they reached the final where they were defeated by the Bruce Mouat rink.[29]

In October 2019, Team Muirhead competed in the Scottish qualifier for the 2019 European Curling Championships against both the Mouat and Paterson rinks. After going 2–2 through the round robin, they were defeated by the Paterson rink in the best-of-three final.[30] Elsewhere on tour, they finished second at the Farmers Edge SCT and third at the Dumfries Challenger Series. At the Scottish Men's Championship, they once again placed second after losing to the Mouat rink again in the final.[31]

Following the 2019–20 season, Team Muirhead was cut from British Curling's elite performance program.[32]

Personal life

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Thomas Muirhead is the brother of Olympic gold medallist Eve Muirhead, and his brother Glen is also a professional curler. Their father Gordon won a gold medal at the 1994 European Curling Championships, and was an alternate for the team that won the 1999 World Curling Championships.[33][18] Muirhead has a degree in agriculture from Scotland's Rural College.[34] Aside from curling, Muirhead rears sheep. He began rearing sheep in Blair Atholl, but now, along with brother Glen, rears sheep near Crieff.[6][35]

Grand Slam record

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Key
C Champion
F Lost in Final
SF Lost in Semifinal
QF Lost in Quarterfinals
R16 Lost in the round of 16
Q Did not advance to playoffs
T2 Played in Tier 2 event
DNP Did not participate in event
N/A Not a Grand Slam event that season
Event 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
Masters DNP Q Q DNP
Tour Challenge T2 F Q T2
Canadian Open DNP Q DNP DNP
Players' DNP SF QF DNP

Teams

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Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate
2011–12[36] Kyle Smith Thomas Muirhead Kyle Waddell Kerr Drummond
2012–13 Kyle Smith Thomas Muirhead Kyle Waddell Cammy Smith
2013–14 Kyle Smith Thomas Muirhead Kyle Waddell Cammy Smith
2014–15 Tom Brewster Glen Muirhead Ross Paterson Hammy McMillan Jr. Thomas Muirhead
2015–16 Kyle Smith Thomas Muirhead Kyle Waddell Cammy Smith
2016–17 Kyle Smith Thomas Muirhead Kyle Waddell Cammy Smith
2017–18 Kyle Smith Thomas Muirhead Kyle Waddell Cammy Smith
2018–19 Glen Muirhead Kyle Smith Thomas Muirhead Cammy Smith
2019–20 Glen Muirhead Kyle Smith Thomas Muirhead Cammy Smith

References

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  1. ^ "Athlete Profile – Thomas Muirhead". Pyeongchang 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Winter Olympics 2018: Great Britain's team for Pyeongchang". BBC Sport. 12 December 2017. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  3. ^ "Thomas Muirhead". Team GB. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  4. ^ "World Junior Curling Championships 2012 Men's Medal Games". World Curling Federation. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Bronze medal for Canada at the World Juniors". Curling Canada. 10 March 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  6. ^ a b Richard Winton (28 March 2013). "Curling: One-upmanship is Muirheads' recipe for success". The Herald. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  7. ^ "2013 Winter Universiade". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  8. ^ "2014 World Junior Championships latest". Scottish Curling. 5 March 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  9. ^ "2015 Winter Universiade". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  10. ^ "2014 Swiss Cup Basel". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  11. ^ "2014 Curling Masters Champery". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  12. ^ "2014 Dumfries Curling Challenge". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  13. ^ "2016 European Playdowns". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Tie-breaker win sees Sweden into men's semi-finals". World Curling Federation. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  15. ^ "2015-16 WCT Men's Schedule". TSN. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  16. ^ "WCT Recap: Smith, Hasselborg capture OCT Fall Classic in Oakville". TSN. 4 September 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  17. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (13 November 2016). "Edin wins Tour Challenge for 2nd straight GSOC title". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  18. ^ a b Jonathan Brazeau (15 September 2016). "Thomas Muirhead making name for himself on curling tour". Sportsnet. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  19. ^ "2017 EURONICS European Masters". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  20. ^ Andy McGilvray (4 September 2017). "Hamilton curler Kyle Waddell reckons team spirit can help him to Winter Olympics glory". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  21. ^ a b Amy MacBeath (22 June 2017). "Eve Muirhead will be joined by brothers Tom and Glen at the 2018 Winter Olympics". BBC. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  22. ^ "Sweden win at fourth consecutive Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships". World Curling Federation. 25 November 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Marc Pfister wins German Masters". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Switzerland secure last Olympic semi-final place". World Curling Federation. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  25. ^ "SUI v GBR (Tie-Breaker) – Men's Curling". Olympics. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Anna Sloan Stepping Away as British Curling Announces Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Scotland's Muirhead wins Ashley HomeStore Classic". Curl BC. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  28. ^ "Team Glen Muirhead: 2018–19". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  29. ^ "2019 Scottish Curling Scottish Championships Finals Review". Scottish Curling. 17 February 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  30. ^ "European Curling Championships: Team Paterson wins Scottish play-off as champions Team Mouat bow out". BBC. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  31. ^ "Team Mouat – Scottish Curling Men's Champions 2020". Scottish Curling. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  32. ^ Eric Nicholson (3 June 2020). "British Curling confirm Perthshire Olympians have been axed from elite programme". The Courier. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  33. ^ "Curling – Men: World Championships". Sports123. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  34. ^ Gordon Bannerman (14 November 2014). "Thomas Muirhead plans to emulate sister Eve's curling achievements". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  35. ^ Kevin Ferrie (17 February 2017). "The silence and the lambs: how curling's Thomas Muirhead is looking to give big brother Glen a chilling experience". The Herald. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  36. ^ "Thomas Muirhead Past Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
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