"I want that again" McPherson focuses on the PyeongChang podium

PyeongChang 2018

Recognition

Going on holiday to Spain and being recognised in the street was the moment it all sunk in for wheelchair curler Bob McPherson – he was a Paralympic bronze medallist.

Four years have passed since that moment for the Bellshill athlete - now he has the chance to do it all over again.

McPherson will represent ParalympicsGB for a second time, desperate to back up his Sochi podium place with a repeat performance in PyeongChang.

But for the 49-year-old, just being chosen is worth its own weight in gold.

Illness has prevented the Scot from taking to the ice as much as he would have liked but, with the memories of Sochi 2014 still ringing in his head, this was an opportunity he wouldn’t miss for the world.

“It’s absolutely amazing, to be a Paralympian a second time around gives me so much pleasure, I can’t really believe it but it’s a really great feeling,” he said.

The days after I was told I was selected, those first few nights before I went to bed, I was looking in the cabinet where I keep my medal and saying ‘I want that again.

Bob McPherson

“When I first came into the squad, 2018 was my target but I was lucky enough to get to the Paralympics in 2014 which was really great and unexpected, but now to get to the one I’d be aiming for, I feel ready.

“When I got home from Sochi, there were months and months of me looking at that medal and realising it was me who had won that.

“The first few days I was waking up and wondering if I was dreaming but that’s what it can do to you, it was absolutely amazing.

“The days after I was told I was selected, those first few nights before I went to bed, I was looking in the cabinet where I keep my medal and saying ‘I want that again’.

“Being on that podium with that medal around your neck – you’ll never get a better feeling that that.”

McPherson congratulates Hugh Nibloe at the World Championships

The Lanarkshire curler took to the ice for the first time a decade ago, playing his first World Championships in 2013 prior to his Paralympic debut.

That Games saw him as the new face but, make no mistake, this is a different curler to the one of four years ago.

Alongside teammates Aileen Neilson, Hugh Nibloe, Gregor Ewan and Angie Malone, McPherson has ridden the crest of a wave over the past year, first qualifying for PyeongChang before securing World Championship bronze just last March, also in South Korea.

Confident of that form continuing, the 49-year-old is therefore revelling in the excitement as opposed to the nerves of what may come his way.

“Sochi 2014 was not what I had expected, I was the new boy then and this time I am feeling more prepared. I’ve got four more years under my belt and I’m feeling a lot more confident in those abilities,” he added.

“I’m now playing at lead when I was previously playing second and I absolutely love it, you get to hit that big target with nothing in the house and you need a lot of concentration in that.

“The World Championships was big for us, we’ve played there now and we know what to expect, that can only be a good thing for us, to not only go to the test event but do well as well.

“You know from being there that you can take nothing for granted, you have to fight for everything you’re going for to make sure you get to where you want to be and what you want to achieve.”

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