Ross Whyte Reflects on Olympic Disappointment
Ross Whyte (right) and his rink are currently ranked third in the world.
The Winter Olympics proved to be a source of frustration for Ross Whyte. Not only did he witness some of his closest friends and British Curling teammates miss out on their goal of winning gold, but he was also unable to participate himself.
Having served as the alternate for Team Mouat at the 2022 Winter Games, Whyte is familiar with the experience of standing on the podium with a silver medal. However, he believes that his own Team Whyte would have been strong medal contenders in Cortina in February, had they been allowed to compete.
At that time, Scotland's second-best rink was ranked third globally, with only Team Mouat ranked higher earlier in the season. Another Scottish rink, Team Waddell—whose skip, Kyle, served as Olympic alternate this time—also ranks within the top 10 worldwide.
However, Olympic regulations permitting only one curling team per country prevented these teams from competing, despite their genuine medal prospects.
"It's hard to see other nations there when you know you're better than their team," Whyte told Scotland. "Some of them were potentially ranked about 20th in the world and, at the time, we were third.
"You see some podiums that have Norway or Germany one, two and three in a certain sport. But you're just sitting there at home.
"It's just it's strange that our sport is so different to any other in the Olympics."
Opportunity at the World Curling Championship
Whyte and his rink, consisting of Robin Brydone, Euan Kyle, and Craig Waddell, will finally have their opportunity at the upcoming World Curling Championship.
With Team Mouat taking a break following the Olympics, Team Whyte secured their place in Ogden, Utah, by defeating Team Waddell at the Scottish Championship in February.
Whyte acknowledges that they will travel to the United States with a desire to demonstrate their capabilities.
"It's about going out there and showing everyone that we should be getting these chances," he said. "So there is a bit of pressure on us to show that selecting us would not be a risk the next time these decisions come around.
"Ultimately, we will find out at the end of the week whether we are right about that."
Although their ranking has since dropped to fifth globally due to inactivity and the recent performances of other teams, the Scottish rink will be the second highest-ranked team competing at the worlds, positioning them as strong medal contenders.
Several of the 10 Olympic teams will also participate, but Whyte and his teammates do not view them as threats.
"We will have a bit of a marker on our backs, being ranked second," he said. "But, if we can be consistent and build towards being top two in the round-robin, we'll be in good place.
"Obviously we're looking to be up there right at the end, but we'd be very excited with a medal. We'd love it to be gold, but it's our first opportunity, so lets have a really good week and see where that takes us."
