Curling or COVID? Wright faced work dilemma ahead of Games

Great Britain curler Vicky Wright has revealed she agonized over whether to stop working as a nurse on a COVID-19 ward earlier this year to protect herself before her first Winter Olympics.

"Just before Christmas when things started to get real... I was thinking, 'Maybe I should stop work earlier'," 28-year-old Wright told the Olympic official news site.

Wright works as a staff nurse for Britain's National Health Service in Scotland, which saw record daily coronavirus cases in late December.

"We were working in a 32-bed COVID unit with full PPE (personal protective equipment), and it was hard," she said.

"But then I thought, 'I've gone two years without getting COVID, if I work for an extra two weeks is it really going to make a difference?'"

In the end, Wright decided to stay.

"Final shift of work completed before heading off to the Olympics next month. I cannot thank my (Ward) B11 family enough for making today so special you guys are the best!! #bestteam #lotsofcake," she tweeted on January 6 before heading off to join her teammates for pre-Games training.

"It was my choice – I love caring for people and it keeps me really grounded as a person," she told the Olympics news site.

"I'm like anyone who works in the National Health Service; we put our head down and we just get on with it."

Wright started curling at the age of 12 through a school program in Stranraer, a small town on the southwest coast of Scotland which has produced several other of the sport's top athletes.

Wright's partner, Greg Drummond, won a silver medal in curling at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Wright herself has high hopes for Beijing 2022.

On her British Curling profile page, under the heading 'future goals' she lists: "Olympic Gold. Become a World Champion (and be better than Greg...!)"

Team GB will launch their medal bid in the women's event on February 10.