Vicky Wright will return to NHS frontlines as an Olympic curling medallist

Vicky Wright will return to work on the NHS frontline next week with an Olympic medal hanging around her neck after playing an integral role in Great Britain’s surge to the women’s curling final in Beijing.

The 28-year-old vice-skip juggled training for her first Winter Games with her work at a hospital in Larbert and says being exposed to the coronavirus pandemic has given her a new-found sense of perspective in her sport.

“I feel very lucky that I have the best of both worlds,” said Wright. “If I am having a bad day on the ice, I will go to work and really get a perspective that my life is actually OK, there are a lot of people worse off than me.

“If I am having a bad day at work, I have curling to focus on, which is rewarding for me. I find it keeps my really grounded and I am able to do both.”

Wright is part of Eve Muirhead’s four-strong team, along with Jennifer Dodds and Hailey Duff, that face Japan early on Sunday aiming to become Britain’s first Olympic champions since Rhona Martin’s team in Salt Lake City in 2002.

She works in a surgical ward at the Forth Valley Hospital in Larbert, which was requisitioned as a Covid ward during the pandemic surge.

Wright and the team were in Canada ahead of the 2020 World Championships, which were cancelled two days before their scheduled start date. She came home and immediately helped the battle against the virus.

“When the pandemic hit we were in Canada and I flew home and went back to work,” added Wright. “We couldn’t train or do anything, and I trained as a nurse for a reason, so I just went back to do it full time.

“I finished working full-time on January 6. I worked nights over Christmas and worked Christmas Eve.”

Wright said she would head into the gold medal showdown