Team GB women's curling captain Eve Muirhead has revealed that Jessica Ennis-Hill's display under pressure at London 2012 is motivating her to perform at the Winter Olympics.
The reigning world champion is the favourite to medal in Sochi and can therefore relate to Ennis-Hill, who was the face of Great Britain's home Games two summers ago and won gold in the heptathlon.
While she admits that she is not quite under the same scrutiny, Muirhead has revealed that she admires Ennis-Hill for how well she dealt with the spotlight, and hopes that she can do the same on her way to securing the Olympic medal that she feels would complete her resume.
"London was definitely a huge inspiration for me and to watch Jessica in that stadium," she told reporters. "The pressure she was under was unbelievable. She dealt with it so well - she is definitely someone that I look up to.
"It's not quite the same pressure admittedly. I guess there is bit of pressure there for us but you try not to think about it too much. I was there on the Friday, the first day of athletics competition. I went to London and that was one of the biggest eye openers for me.
"It was a kind of a bit of a boost I needed. When I went there and watched all these athletes and see the amount of work they put in it really did open my eyes. So I went back and I really busted a gut. You want to do what these guys are doing. You want to win medals. The Olympic medal is the one medal I am missing right now."
Scotland's Muirhead and her team begin their campaign in Russia on Monday.
Joe Fish
