Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
Scottish Equity Partners announced today its sponsorship of World Curling Champion Eve Muirhead in the run up to the Winter Olympics in 2014. The support will allow Eve to focus all her attention on winning gold in Sochi.
Eve became World Champion in Latvia in March, before going on to win curling’s Grand Slam, the Players’ Championships, in April. Team Muirhead is the first European team to win both World Championship and the Players’ in the same year.
Eve has taken curling to a completely new level and established Scotland as the team to beat. Every other team will be looking for ways to up their game in the coming months. And as the pressure mounts, Eve will continue to work with the girls to enrich the blend of talent and personality required to defend their dominance of the sport.
Physical excellence, mental focus and strong decision making skills are key to success on the ice. Over the last 12 months Eve has worked ceaselessly to create unity and cohesion – and she knows instinctively how Team Muirhead works.
Eve approaches curling with a precision not seen before, assessing the performance of every member of her team, and developing an almost forensic understanding of the opposition prior to competition. Weighing and meticulously analysing every stone, Eve closely monitors the constantly changing condition of the ice to ensure optimal performance.
Commenting on the sponsorship deal, Eve said: “Sponsorship will make a huge difference to my preparation for the Olympics and I am proud to have Scottish Equity Partners as part of my team. The ambition and ethos of SEP make them a perfect fit for me. They understand the challenges I face and I believe we will all learn from each other. The main thing is this means all my energy can now be devoted to getting Team Muirhead ready for Sochi in eight months and being the athlete I need to be.”
Links between business and sport are crucial: funding for young athletes is vital to the UK’s continued success at a global level, while the business world can, through interaction with sport, appreciate ever more greatly the rewards that come from resilience, determination and effective team work, and emulate these in the conduct of business.
SEP’s Managing Partner Calum Paterson said: “Eve is a fantastic Scottish athlete who has already achieved significant success. She is a great role model for young people across the UK and we hope our sponsorship will enable her to continue to inspire others to take up sport and to strive to be the best in their chosen field. We are honoured to be part of Eve’s story and to help her as she trains hard for the winter Olympics in 2014.”
Eve was just 19 when she skipped the GB curling team at the Vancouver Olympics; she was the first curler to skip a team to victory in both Scottish and Junior championships in the same year, the first to skip on World Junior and Senior championships in the same year and the only skip ever to win three straight world junior titles.
