Thomas Muirhead is not the best at sitting down and watching his sister take to the ice - especially when a gold medal is on the line.
So just as well Eve’s brother had lambing duties on the farm between Crieff and Comrie to take care of during the showdown match against Japan.
But the 26-year-old, a former Olympian himself, did ensure he was back in front of the television for the closing stages and special podium presentation.
“I’m a terrible spectator,” laughed Thomas. “I get hellish nervous and struggle to watch at times.
“I’m worse watching than I was playing. Everything is outwith your control and you are just sitting with your fingers crossed.
“We’re up during the night lambing sheep at the moment. But me and my girlfriend sat up and managed to watch the final.
“I had to nip away and miss a couple of the ends at the start because there was lambing that I couldn’t leave any longer.
“I got back for the second half and watched it through. I wasn’t going to miss it.
“They were in full control from the start and the two in the first end took the pressure off big time. That would have settled the nerves.
“They were playing great and were making everything.”
The podium presentation was a particularly poignant moment for Thomas, who watched older sibling Eve show her emotion when the Great Britain flag was raised above all in Beijing.
“There was a lump in the throat anyway, that is for sure,” smiled Thomas. "I just know how much it means to her.
“She has dedicated her life to the sport from a very young age. She lives and breathes curling, putting everything into it.
“It had been a fairly eventful couple of months. They had to go to the qualifying event and they squeaked through that.
“They then had the ups and downs through the round robin but seemed to hit form when it mattered, especially the semi-final against Sweden.
“That was against the reigning champions who had done it all before.
“The Olympic gold was the one Eve didn’t have in the cabinet. That was the one she was craving.
“Having gone through everything after the last Olympics and the hip surgery, there were times you worried she wasn’t going to get another chance.
“So to come home this time with the gold, she will have accomplished all the goals she wanted to achieve in the sport.”
It is clear that a nation has fallen in love with curling and Thomas just hopes the sport will see a surge in popularity long-term.
He said: “The ice rinks were getting a wee bit quieter so this is something the sport was needing to encourage folk to give it a try.
“The only coverage curling really gets on the TV is during the Olympics and you see how fixated people get on it. Hopefully this is a chance for the sport to get more exposure and more folk in the doors.”
Thomas is, of course, looking forward to congratulating his sister in person.
He laughed: “I’m sure Eve will have plenty of other bigger and better things to go to! But we’ll catch up with her as soon as we can.”
