Scotland curling skip Sophie Jackson says the pressure of trying to secure Team GB’s place at the Winter Olympics and boosting her own selection hopes is “a very exciting prospect”.
Jackson, 28, and her rink are at the World Women’s Championship, which gets under way in South Korea on Saturday. And there is more than medals up for grabs in Uijeongbu.
After the event, the top eight nations in the Olympic standings are assured of their places at Milan/Cortina 2026.
Great Britain sit eighth after their showing at the 2024 World Championship.
“It definitely is pressure but I guess it depends how we respond to that pressure,” said Jackson, 28.
“We know if we are the team to qualify GB then that puts us in a really good spot for our selection to the Olympics, so it is only a good thing for us. It is in our control.
“We are really looking forward to that and it is actually a very exciting prospect for us.”
Those who fail to secure an Olympic place over the coming days will have another chance to do so via a qualifying tournament at the end of the year.
“Everyone hopes to avoid those qualifiers,” explained Jackson. “But the girls last time at the Olympics [Eve Muirhead’s rink], they qualified through that event and then won gold. We are hoping to get GB there the quick way, but we will see.”
Jackson is joined in Uijeongbu by Rebecca Morrison, Jen Dodds and Sophie Sinclair.
The rink – who won a European bronze medal in November – was selected despite losing to Fay Henderson’s team in the final at the recent Scottish Championships.
“We try and not pay too much attention to the noise that is going on around us but obviously we know that there has been some rumblings and some talk,” added Jackson.
“We just want to prove what we can do, more to ourselves, but to everybody else as well.
“We have got Fay here as our fifth [alternate]. She was a great support at the Europeans so it is really nice to have her along. We know we have got strength there if we need her to come on to the playing field.
“That European bronze medal was the team’s strongest performance to date. We ticked off some of the top teams so hopefully we can do that at this championship as well.”
