Vicky Drummond marked her return to competitive curling in style, partnering Euan Kyle to an emphatic victory at the Scottish Curling Mixed Doubles Championship.
The 33-year-old intensive care nurse left the sport shortly after winning gold at the 2022 Olympics.
Drummond (nee Wright) and Kyle, a bronze medallist from this year’s World Championship, won every match they played in Aberdeen this week.
Their 100% run culminated with an 8-1 victory over Katie McMillan and Archie Hyslop in the final, which was over after a mere five ends.
Drummond told British Curling: “It really doesn’t feel like I have been away for that long and, once I got into the flow of things, with the practice and the games it literally was like riding a bike.
“I did have a nervous tummy and, if I didn’t have that, I knew it would be the time to hang up the shoes again, but the butterflies are back and the excitement is there and the enjoyment is there, so I am really proud of what we have achieved this week. It’s been pretty, pretty special.”
Kyle revealed that he would love to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Bruce Mouat by combining two disciplines at the next Winter Olympics.
“It is a long way off, but this has been a great start to the cycle, so hopefully Vicky and I will get the call up to the World Champs,” he said.
“When I got the call this summer from an Olympic gold medallist to ask if I wanted to partner her in mixed doubles, I was really chuffed.
“I would have been mad to turn down an opportunity like that and, from the start we just clicked.”
Runners-up McMillan and Hyslop lost two of their six group matches but edged out the previously unbeaten partnership of Sophie Jackson and Duncan McFadzean in their semi-final.
Drummond’s Olympic skip, 36-year-old Eve Muirhead also came out of retirement for this tournament.
However, Team GB’s chef de mission at this year’s Olympics did not progress to the play-offs as she and Bobby Lammie finished fourth in their seven-team section.