Muirhead’s Olympic journey was marked by its own highs and lows – from her Olympic debut at Vancouver 2010, to bronze at Sochi 2014, a fourth-place finish at PyeongChang 2018, and finally gold at Beijing 2022. This shaped the way she supported athletes competing on the Olympic stage.
“My time as an athlete definitely helped me in this role,” Muirhead said. “Whether it was delivering under pressure, leadership, the experience of a variety of different Games or knowing what it is the athletes want and need.”
“I’ve probably gone through a lot more hard times than great times within sport,” she added. “It’s about how you deal with those moments and how you come back from failure.”
“Having gone through it myself, I’m very conscious of making sure we have that support around the athletes as well.”
Elfje Willemsen and Helene Jørgensen: Coaching with confidence
For many women in high-performance sport, the confidence built through years of competing becomes one of their greatest assets for their work as coaches.
Elfje Willemsen competed in bobsleigh at three Olympic Winter Games before moving into coaching following PyeongChang 2018. The self-belief and resilience she developed as an athlete helped her guide the Canadian team to two bobsleigh bronze medals at Beijing 2022. At Milano Cortina 2026, Willemsen continued her coaching journey with the Swiss bobsleigh team.