EVE MUIRHEAD: Plenty of scope to improve after Euro silver

We were obviously gutted to lose out on gold at the European Championships on the last stone in the final.

But all in all I have to look back on the week as a successful one.

Getting back on a podium at a major championships after returning from surgery and putting in all the hard hours of rehab was always the goal.

Silver at the Euros is a reward for that and this feels like a big step forward for the team.

We did what we needed to do in the round-robin but we really raised our game in the semi-final and the final was another high quality game of curling.

It would have been a great advert for the sport because it was two teams with attacking tactics and there were so many switches of momentum.

Ultimately, though, when you don’t have last stone advantage in the last end against a player of the quality of Anna Hasselborg you fear the worst.

I certainly expected her to make the shot.

They’re the Olympic champions for a reason and to see the way they celebrated at the end showed how hard we had pushed them.

You have to remember that even though it was my 12th Euros, Vicky Wright in our team was competing in her first.

And compared to the other top teams, who have been together for years, we’re in the early stages of our development.

You would think they are probably at their peak but we’re nowhere near ours.

For me personally it’s great to get confirmation that I can still compete and beat the best and to get confirmation that we can be strong enough as a rink to do the same.

There’s a long time left until the Olympics and a lot of room left for us to reach our full potential.

* Talking of the Olympics, while I was in Sweden there was a headline that said the next one might be my last.

I don’t know any athlete who looks two Games into the future and I’m certainly not.

People always tell you that you compete for as long as you’re enjoying it and as long as you think you are capable of getting on to the podium.

That is definitely my mindset.

Don’t get me wrong, the injury and the surgery has made things harder but, don’t worry, I won’t be retiring anytime soon!

* I also heard while we were in Sweden that the curling rink at Braehead is going to close in March.

It was really disappointing news.

I have been an ambassador for the rink in the past and I’ve helped out at open sessions there.

The Glynnhill Women’s International which was held there for six years was a prestigious competition and we competed at a Euros there a couple of years ago.

It will come down to pounds and pence. I get that.

But it’s also a real blow for the sport in this country.

Glasgow is the biggest city in Scotland and apparently there will now be 40 clubs without a base.

There is no other rink in the area so it seems inevitable that people will be lost to the game.