The Stranraer-born curler sets his sights on Milan
Michael Hamilton
When you enter a job in hospitality, you expect to work weekends. It comes with the territory. When Hammy McMillan Jr joined me at Elliott’s ten years ago, I thought he knew this.
Apparently not. He would continually ask for weekends off to go to curling events, a sport he had just started to take seriously. I used to think, “Curling, really?” but would still give him the time off, anyway. His decision to miss crucial shifts and chase his curling dreams has certainly paid off. Hammy is part of Team Mouat, currently ranked the number one curling team in the world. He currently has an Olympic silver medal, World championship gold medal and four European gold medals, and when I caught up with him recently, it’s very clear that an Olympic gold is his only focus.
Curling runs in the family. His grandfather, a hotelier and entrepreneur, spotted a gap in the market many years ago in Stranraer and opened an ice rink. Hammy’s dad, Hammy McMillan Snr, took up curling and had a great career of his own. A World champion and five-time European champion meant that young Hammy grew around the ice, sailing down the ice on his dad’s and friend’s curling stones. Hammy Jr caught the curling bug and after junior success ended up curling for Team Brewster, a nice moment as his dad also curled for Team Brewster.
After missing out on a medal at the 2016 World’s, and then not getting picked for the 2018 Olympic team, Hammy was at a bit of a curling crossroads. His reaction to not getting picked for the Olympics was to phone his cousin, Grant, and go for a couple of pints. That night they discussed forming their own team and the next year they got Bobby and Bruce involved and Team Mouat was formed.
The 2017 season got off to a flier and the boys won their first two events. Hammy tells me they snuck in the door to their first Grand Slam, the equivalent in curling to the majors in tennis and golf. The top 15 teams in the world qualified and they were ranked 21st.
“It was an Olympic season, USA Olympic trials were on and there were European Championships on as well. So six teams pulled out, we snuck in and to just qualify was amazing. We played the 2014 Olympic champs, Canada, in their hometown and beat them, and then went on a run and won it. We had only been a team for a few months so to win a Grand Slam was huge. We became the first ever Scottish to do so and only second European team. We came home, won the Scottish Championships, then went to World’s and won bronze and that first season just catapulted us to the next level.”
The first couple of seasons were very successful for Hammy and Team Mouat but they were still the new kids on the block and there was very little in the way of expectations on the world stage. Once you get close to the Olympics, though, everything starts to get a little more serious. Hammy explained to me what it was like getting that phone call.
“Honestly, it was a bit of an anti-climax. The top team get a full season to prepare, so we knew by Summer of 2021 that we were the number one ranked team in the UK and that we would be going. You’d expect to get the call by August, but we didn’t get it until the October and it was more relief than anything. Then when you get your letter, your team GB tracksuit and all your kit, it was surreal, and you start to get very excited.”
Hammy Jr’s first Olympic experience was during COVID-19, so there were no Olympic Village parties and mingling with other nations. COVID Tests every morning and masks at all times meant it was a more subdued Olympics, and not having any friends and family attending was very strange.
Going into the Olympics, they were one of the top ranked teams in the world and they had expectations of winning. The team only lost one game in the round robin and they were on a roll of controlling games. The semi-final match was against the USA, the team that beat them in the round robin, and they got off to a shocker. Once the nerves settled down, the team got into a rhythm and they were then in an Olympic final.
“I remember walking up the walkway, the side bit to the arena, and I just got pure shivers. Wow, you’re about to go and play an Olympic final, it was incredible. During the warm-up, you come out of it, muscle memory takes over, but it’s so cool to look back on.”
The final didn’t go their way and Sweden took home the gold. It was a tough experience for Hammy and the team as they couldn’t go and drown their sorrows or celebrate an amazing achievement with the rest of Team GB due to the COVID protocols. They headed back to the flat and just had to sit and think about what might have been. Hammy admitted it took about two months to get over that and he can now look back proudly at his incredible achievement.
Olympic silver spurred Hammy and team on, though, and they won the final Grand Slam of the season in April after the Games and then went on to win the 2023 World Championships. It was about that time that Hammy and the team started to spend more time with a sports psychologist. The team had spent time with one on and off, but it was after the 2024 World’s where the team didn’t medal that they spent more time and started to take it more seriously. I’m always really interested about what each individual gets from their sports psychologist and so Hammy explained how it has helped the team and him.
“It’s really sharpened our focus to just curling. I think as a professional athlete there has to be a sense of selfishness. It’s helped us have tough conversations as a team quicker, as we are all aligned to this one goal. My friends and family understand that, and it is allowing to give everything to the sport.”
This is a big season for Hammy as this is the one before Olympic season. The World Championships hurt and helped to refocus the team. They are determined to be the team that represents Team GB in 2026. They have got off to a flier this season, winning three of their first five events, one of them being a Grand Slam, and this is the longest stint being the number one ranked team in the world. If they keep up this hot start, they will be able to head to Milan to try and go one better.
Away from the professional arena, Hammy is the only member of Team Mouat that has another job outside of being a full-time athlete. Moving from Kilmarnock to Glasgow he needed a part-time job and found a role as a curling development officer. He runs a learn to curl programme, for anyone looking to get into curling and feels very fortunate his employer allows him the flexibility to work part-time and also fit in his busy curling schedule. Although I do imagine having a World Champion and Olympic silver medallist working there helps raise the profile of the programme.
While there may already be future planning for a career after curling, it is very clear that right now the only focus is getting to Milan 2026 and standing on top of that Olympic podium. This Olympics will be back to the full Olympic experience of village parties, and friends and family cheering him on. After speaking to Hammy and hearing how focused, how committed he and the team are, I think they might just be cheering him on to Olympic gold!
