Team GB curls Vicky Wright on top of Winter Olympics gold medal after dark days as Covid nurse

After stepping up to help as a nurse during the height of the Covid pandemic, Wright has returned to the top of her billiards game and once won Winter Olympics glory.

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Winter Olympics: Penguin Explainer

Vicky Wright went from saving lives to saving Team GB’s bacon at Winter Olympic Games yesterday.

The Scottish Covid nurse has spent the darkest days of the pandemic working at a hospital complex in Larbert, near Falkirk.

But it’s British curly The team needs her help as they go down 4-0 to make it to the final against Japan tomorrow.

It will be the first time Team GB has won women’s gold since Rhona Martin led her to glory in Salt Lake City 20 years ago.

Whatever the outcome, the team is guaranteed a second medal going forward with whatever Bruce Mouat picks up in today’s men’s final.

“I was a full-time surgical nurse until 2019 when I went to work part-time,” says Wright. When the pandemic hit, we were in Canada at the world championships and I was flying back full time.

“We couldn’t train, we couldn’t do anything, and I trained as a nurse for a reason. I worked all night, worked through Christmas Eve.”

Due to fears the British were headed for their worst Match here since returning empty-handed from Albertville 30 years ago, foosball gave them a big turnaround.

From despair, the team now has the chance to win more gold medals in an Olympics than ever before and Wright insists she’s ready for the fight.

“We are here to win,” she said. “We want gold. We are here to enjoy it but we will try our best and with the same purpose. If it works, that’s great.”

Yesterday’s win was achieved in a dramatic fashion as the British took an 11-8 lead in the final half and had to win the game for the second time in extra time.

Wright now has a chance to win a bet she made against fiance Greg Drummond, who won silver for GB in Sochi eight years ago.

“I want to do better than one,” she said. “Before playing, I told him I was going back to gold, giving him back his bragging rights after eight years. I think it’s time for me to get them back.”