James Craik (born 13 June 2001) is a Scottish curler from

Edzell Edzell (; sco, Aigle; gd, Eigill) is a village in Angus, Scotland. It is 5 miles (8 km) north of Brechin, by the River North Esk. Edzell is a Georgian era, Georgian-era planned town, with a broad main street and a grid system of side stre ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Career

Juniors

As a junior curler, Craik is a three-time Scottish national champion and three-time World Junior medallist. He and his rink won gold at the

2022 World Junior Curling Championships The 2022 World Junior Curling Championships The World Junior Curling Championships are an annual curling bonspiel featuring the world's best curlers who are 21 years old or younger. The competitions for both men and women occur at the same ve ...

. He also won a gold medal at the

2023 Winter World University Games The 2023 FISU Winter World University Games, officially known as the XXX Winter Universiade, and commonly known as Lake Placid 2023, is a collegiate multi-sport winter sports event scheduled to be held from 12 to 22 January 2023 in Lake Placid, ...

. In 2019, he won his first Scottish Junior title, throwing second for the

Ross Whyte Ross Whyte (born 31 August 1998) is a Scottish curler. He is a two-time European champion and an Olympic silver medallist. He lives in Stirling, Scotland. Personal life Whyte is currently studying Sports Studies at the University of Stirling. ...

rink. The team represented Scotland at the 2019 World Junior Curling Championships, where they went undefeated in the round robin, finishing with a 9–0 record. In the playoffs however, they lost to Switzerland in the semifinal, but rebounded to beat Norway in the bronze medal game. The following season, Craik won the Scottish junior title again, this time skipping his own team of

Mark Watt Mark Robert James Watt (born 29 July 1996) is a Scottish cricketer. He made his Twenty20 International debut against Ireland on 18 June 2015. He made his List A debut in the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship on 31 July 2015 agai ...

, Blair Haswell and Niall Ryder. At the

2020 World Junior Curling Championships The 2020 World Junior Curling Championships was held from February 15 to 22 at the Crystal Ice Arena in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Canada proved to be the best in the field in both events as Jacques Gauthier and Mackenzie Zacharias both won their resp ...

, he led Scotland to a 7–2 record, tied for first place. The team lost to Switzerland (skipped by Marco Hösli) again in the semifinal, but beat Germany's Sixten Totzek in the bronze medal game to claim their second straight World junior bronze. Craik won the Scottish junior title again in 2021 with teammates Angus Bryce, Scott Hyslop and Ryder remaining at lead. After the 2021 World Juniors were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the team represented Scotland at the

. Craik led the team to an 8-1 round robin record, in sole first-place position. This time, they finally won their semifinal game, beating Norway's Grunde Buraas rink 7–5. In the gold medal final, they easily beat Germany's Benjamin Kapp 7–1 to win the championship. Craik, a business management student at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

, skipped the British team at the

. His team, which included Watt, Bryce and Haswell finished the round robin with an 8–1 record. The team beat Canada's Dalhousie University team (skipped by

Owen Purcell Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

) in the semifinal, then beat the United States, skipped by Daniel Casper, in the gold medal game.

Men's

Craik, Bryce, Hyslop and Ryder played in the 2022 Scottish Curling Championships. After posting a 6-4 round robin record, they lost in the semifinal to Ross Paterson. Craik, Watt, Bryce and Haswell played at the 2023 Scottish championship, finishing the round robin with a 5–2 record. The team won their semifinal against

, but ended up losing in the final to

Bruce Mouat Bruce Mouat (; born 27 August 1994 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish curler. He is an Olympic silver medallist, having skipped Great Britain to a second place finish in the men's team event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Career Mouat had a very su ...

, who ended up going on to win that year's World championship. On the tour, Craik won the Grand Prix Bern Inter in 2023. Craik played in the

2023 Players' Championship The 2023 Princess Auto Players' Championship was held from April 11 to 16 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ontario. It was the fifth Grand Slam event and final major of the 2022–23 curling season. In the women's final, Sweden's Isa ...

, sparing on the

Magnus Ramsfjell Magnus Ramsfjell (born 17 July 1997 in Tønsberg) is a Norwegian curler from Trondheim. Career Juniors Ramsfjell was the skip of the Norwegian junior men's team in four straight World Junior Curling Championships from 2016 to 2019. At the 20 ...

rink, his first personal

Grand Slam of Curling The Grand Slam of Curling (branded as the Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling for sponsorship reasons) is a series of curling bonspiels that are a part of the annual World Curling Tour. Grand Slam events offer a purse of at least CAD$100,000, and fe ...

event. The team missed the playoffs. The next season, Craik's men's team of Watt, Bryce and Haswell played in their first

event together at the

2023 National The 2023 Daedong (company), KIOTI National (curling), National was held from November 7 to 12 at the Pictou County Wellness Centre in Westville Road, Nova Scotia, Westville Road, Nova Scotia. It was the second Grand Slam of Curling, Grand Slam ev ...

. The team squeaked into the playoffs with a 2-2, but lost to Switzerland's

Yannick Schwaller Yannick Schwaller (born 31 March 1995 in Solothurn) is a Swiss curler from Recherswil. He currently skips his own team out of Geneva. Career Juniors Schwaller skipped the Swiss junior men's team at three straight World Junior Curling Champi ...

rink in the quarterfinals.

Personal life

Craig began curling at age six. His brother Ross is also a curler and represented Great Britain at the Youth Olympics.

Grand Slam record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craik, James Living people 2001 births Sportspeople from Angus, Scotland Curlers from Stirling Scottish male curlers Universiade medalists in curling FISU World University Games gold medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 2023 Winter World University Games Alumni of the University of Stirling Sportspeople from Aberdeen