MOUAT MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE

UNDER the stairs of his family home in Edinburgh, a schoolboy called Bruce Mouat stashed away an A3 sheet of paper. It contained a prediction scribbled in his own handwriting that, two decades on, has come true. ‘I was ten years old,’ he revealed. ‘We were doing a project at school. And it was to do with your past, present and future. ‘So, as a future Bruce, I said I was going to be an Olympian.’ Now 27, it was confirmed yesterday that he will be handed two opportunities to compete for gold at February’s Winter Olympics in Beijing. He will not only skipper the men’s curling team, but partner his childhood friend Jen Dodds in the mixed doubles, with the Scottish quintet the UK’s first selections for the 2022 Games.

Mouat might also confidently predict success in Beijing after he and Dodds struck gold at the world mixed championships in Aberdeen in May, six weeks after Team Mouat took silver at their global gathering at Calgary. ‘We’re going in there with a realistic chance at two medals,’ he said. ‘We’ve obviously got the world championship title for me and Jen and the world silver medal for the boys. This is a very exciting opportunity that we’re going to try and grab with two hands.’ The group possess strong bonds. ‘I’ve known Bruce since he was about seven and we were at the same rink,’ said Dodds. ‘We have a long friendship and it’s amazing we’re going to an Olympics together.’ Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan will be his compadres in the men’s squad, now third in the world rankings. Britain’s women still have to negotiate a qualifier in the Netherlands in December to join their compatriots in Beijing.