When you’ve won Olympic gold, you don’t enter subsequent events with anything other than winning them in your mind. Eve Muirhead knows that. But she also knows that this is her first curling competition in four years.

The 36-year-old makes her return on Thursday after revoking her retirement when she plays in the Scottish Mixed Doubles Championship in Aberdeen.

Muirhead will reprise her 2022 world title winning partnership with Bobby Lammie – himself a twice Olympic silver medallist – in what the duo hope will be the beginning of a four-year campaign that culminates in the Alpes 2030 Games.

They come into this domestic competition as the big-ticket pairing – having never lost a competitive game – but also as target for the rest of a stacked field.

“We can’t put too much pressure on ourselves,” Muirhead told BBC Sport Scotland. “I need to remember I’ve been away for over four years now and I’m just back into it.

“I know our competitive side is going to come out but we need to put things in perspective as well. We’ve got to remember that it’s a long project that we’re in.”

Muirhead says she has been gripped by a combination of excitement and nerves as she prepares for her comeback.

Six round-robin games across Thursday, Friday and Saturday – and potentially a play-off later that day – will decide if she and Lammie reach Sunday’s semis and final, with a selection of their matches live on the BBC.

While the duo know each other’s games well, the fact Lammie is Stirling-based and Muirhead trains in Preston has limited their ice time. However, they meet up every couple of weeks and believe they are in a good place for their return.

“We’ve got pressure on us and eyes on us as a combination but I think we’ve got to forget about that and just go out and be us,” Muirhead said. “That’s what we did when we when we won the Scottish Champs in 2022 and went on to win the worlds.

“But the standard of teams in Aberdeen is very, very high – probably one of the strongest ever in a Scottish champs – so it’s going to be tough. We just need to curl how we know we can and make sure and do the small parts right and the rest will take take care of itself.”