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When Rhona Martin launched the stone that won Britain’s curlers the Olympic gold medal in Salt Lake City in 2002, watched by a UK television audience of more than six million after midnight, it was supposed to trigger a boom for the sport, with rinks being built across the country. And turn her into a millionaire.

The reality four years on is somewhat different. British curling continues to be practiced almost exclusively in Scotland - pretty much as it has been since the Royal Caledonian Curling Club was founded in 1883. The only place in England it can be played is in Tunbridge Wells on a rink opened by Ernest Fenton, an exiled Scottish curler, on his estate in November 2004.

After a brief period in the spotlight, the sport has returned to being an oddity for most people outside Scotland. As for Martin being wealthy, well, that only brings a sad smile. The 39-year-old split with her husband last year amid financial problems that caused them to sell their home in Ayrshire and is now living with her two children in rented accommodation on state benefits. Martin was always skeptical of talk about how she was going to be rich but she surely could not believe the situation she found herself in.

Financial circumstances dictate she must retire at the end of the Olympics in Turin, which open tomorrow. "There will be no comebacks," she said. "I need a job, a home and a mortgage."

For Martin, even qualifying for the right to defend her title appeared in doubt after a controversial change in how the team was selected. For Salt Lake City the selectors picked Team Martin. But when they returned home they were beaten in the Scottish championships by another team, led by Jackie Lockhart, who traveled to Canada and won the world championships. The team for Turin will include Martin, Lockhart and Kelly Wood, the skip at the world championships last year. The squad is completed by Lynn Cameron and Debbie Knox, the only other member of the Salt Lake squad to have made the cut this time.

Inevitably, there have been attempts to create a rivalry between Martin and Lockhart. "I’m absolutely delighted to be going as skip, and there are no problems with Jackie and Kelly," Martin said. "I think they’re delighted to be going to the games in any position. And over the past year they have played in other positions, while I didn’t, so they’re experienced all over the rink."

The team is preparing in Lucerne and will travel to Turin for the opening ceremony; their first match of the tournament is on Monday in Pinerolo. Rumors, however, have continued to circulate within the close-knit curling community that Martin and Lockhart do not get on.

"It really will not be a problem," insisted Lockhart, 40. "When Rhona won the Olympic gold and I won at the world championship, I think a lot of people tried to create this big split between us. Making out we did not get on was something the media seemed keen on. The only rivalry we have, though, is on the ice. That has always been the case and it always will be, but because of what has been said before, it has not been easy to put us together.

"There is no question I would initially have liked to be skip, but I had a ropy trial period in the position when the national and Olympic coaches watched us. My form dipped slightly, which was my own fault, so I am happy to be the third player on the team. In fact, I am actually quite enjoying it, as being skip is a lonely experience at times."

If the victory in Salt Lake City was a surprise, then another gold medal would be an equal shock. Britain are ranked sixth in the world and a place in the semi-finals would be considered a good performance.

There is more hope of the men’s team achieving something. They are ranked third behind Canada and Norway and have benefited from the extra money given to curling by sportscotland and UK Sport. More than £1m has been poured into the elite end of the sport in the past 10 years and the curlers prepare the same way as any other Olympic team, with specialist coaching, physiotherapists, psychologists and nutrition experts.

"We’ve been working hard on physical training and had a strength and conditioning program which included a four-day camp in Cyprus, which we didn’t have last time around," said Ewan MacDonald, a member of the men’s team. "On the ice, it’s a lot of the same work as before. We all have individual training programs and shots we practice on a regular basis."

MacDonald has an extra incentive for doing well. The men failed to live up to expectations in Salt Lake City and MacDonald’s wife Fiona was a member of Martin’s team. She did not try to qualify this time as she has recently had a baby. "Having Jake means it is not quite as easy for Fiona to go to major events but she will certainly be following the team’s progress on television," he said.

The team will be skipped by David Murdoch, a farmer from Lockerbie. "The boys have every confidence in my ability and I have every confidence in theirs to make the shots," he said. "There were seven Olympic teams at the European Championships and we beat them all, which gives us a lot of confidence. Hopefully in Turin we can perform to the standard we know we can. If we do that we have every chance of reaching the last four and coming away with a medal. The women’s success in 2002 has been an inspiration to us."

Who knows, perhaps curling is set to enjoy another period in the spotlight.