Sport Sport

Aileen Neilson – Scottish Curling Team Skip

With a grandfather and uncle both representing Scotland in curling it is no surprise that Aileen Neilson was destined to follow in their footsteps. However, this primary teacher turned full-time athlete has had more knockbacks than most.

Aileen suffered a spinal tumour when she was two-and-a-half years old but after successful treatment, led a very active early life. She went to Wester Overton Primary School and Strathaven Academy and was very active in all types of sport but due to the earlier surgery and radiotherapy her legs gradually deteriorated from about the age of 18 and she was unable to participate in sport.

It wasn’t until 2004 that the opportunity came about to try curling again. She took her class from school on a trip to the local ice rink for them to try curling and the coach asked if she had a wheelchair because they had started a wheelchair curling club. This allowed Aileen to get back on the ice and she was delighted to be participating rather then just watching. In 2005, she suffered a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) and that was when her legs lost the last of their power and she started using a wheelchair permanently. This came as a relief for Aileen, who had struggled for so long on elbow crutches, and it gave her a new lease of life and found she could do so much more using a wheelchair.

In 2005 she watched the Scottish Team win the Gold medal at Braehead Arena in the World Wheelchair Curling Championships. This was when she realized she would like to be winning the medals and not just watching and began training in her spare time.

This hard work and dedication paid off and in 2007 Aileen was selected to play for Scotland and the team won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Sweden. She represented in Scotland in 2008 and 2009 then in 2010 was selected for team GB at her first Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

In 2011, Aileen was again selected for the Scottish Team for the World Championships but this time as skip (captain), the first time a female had been chosen for the role. They headed to Prague in the Czech Republic and came back victorious with a silver medal.

2014 was a hugely successful year as Aileen skipped the team to a Bronze medal in the Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia, which was seen on television stations all around the world.

In February 2017, the Scottish team returned from the World Championships with a Bronze medal, securing the GB team a place at the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeong Chang in South Korea next year. The squad is busy training and competing with the hope of getting back on the podium next March.