Olympic curler Eve Muirhead awarded honorary doctorate

Muirhead will be be made a Doctor of the University of Stirling at the event in the Highlands

Olympic curler Eve Muirhead is to receive an honorary degree from the University of Stirling in recognition of her outstanding contribution to British sport.

She will receive the award alongside 85 students from the Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport at the University's graduation ceremony in the Highlands.

Muirhead won an Olympic bronze medal as skip for the British team in 2014.

She has also been Scottish champion seven times between 2009 and 2017.

In addition to her Olympic bronze she has had success at the World Championships - winning a silver medal in 2010, a gold in 2013 and a bronze in 2017, and the European Championships, where she has won two bronze, four silver and two gold medals since 2010.

Claire Hamilton, Vicki Adams, Eve Muirhead and Anna Sloan won the Women's curling Bronze Medal at Sochi 2014.

Prof Malcolm MacLeod, senior deputy principal, said: "It is fitting that we are able to celebrate the achievements of Eve Muirhead in the year we celebrate our 10th anniversary as Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence.

"She is a role model for our graduands and embodies the University's ambition to 'be the difference'."

The accolade follows a difficult year for Muirhead, after she recently had surgery to help deal with debilitating pain and arthritis in one of her hips.

The ceremony at Inverness Cathedral will also celebrate the success of a cohort of nurses, as well as those graduating with specialist postgraduate degrees and other qualifications, from the Highlands and Western Isles.

The university's Centre For Health Science is based at a campus in the Highland capital.