SCOTTISH curling champion Vicky Wright has put her full-time sporting career on hold to return to the NHS front line.

Wright stepped back from her role as a general surgical-ward nurse in July last year to focus fully on preparing for the Winter Olympics, which are due to be held in Beijing in February 2022.

But the 26-year-old said today that she was back working in Forth Valley Larbert Hospital last week after the World Championships in Canada were cancelled.

The health worker was part of an Eve Muirhead-skippered Scottish team which was among the favourites to win a world title in Prince George this month, but the coronavirus outbreak forced the event’s cancellation just a day before it was due to begin.

Wright said that she quickly made herself available to the NHS on her return to Scotland, as the health service gears up for its most challenging period.

“It was a weird situation and a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and we were absolutely gutted, but we could see how everything was quickly changing and we knew there were other much bigger priorities than sporting events which are now on the back-burner.

“They have to take second place to what is happening just now, and when I went in to work last week at the hospital it really sank in. There was no world champs and the bigger picture was that helping out at home was more important just now.”

Wright, who kept up a part-time nursing role when her curling commitments allowed, said: “In my nursing career over the years I always felt it was a privilege to be with someone and look after them when they were unwell and vulnerable, and it has always made me appreciate the life I have — being able to work as a nurse, which is a job that I love, and also compete in curling, which is a sport that I love.”

“We are fully informed and prepared, so we are ready, and it is nice to know that my curling teammates are so proud of me and want to help me as well in any way they can.

“They know it is my time to go back to work, but they also know I am still training as an athlete, like them.”