By: Matthew Chiu
The Canadian Curling trials wrapped up Sunday with a nail-biting ending. Brad Gushue and his teammates will be representing Canada in Men’s Curling at the 2022 Olympics after narrowly edging out Brad Jacobs’ team 4-3 in a battle of the Brads that was on the verge of heading to an extra end. Gushue’s trip to Beijing will mark just his second Olympic appearance after taking home gold in 2006.
Meanwhile for the Canadian women’s curling trial, Jennifer Jones and her teammates sealed their spot in the 2022 Olympics after a thrilling 6-5 victory in a game team Fleury that needed an extra end to determine a winner. In a post-game interview, Jones’ team became very emotional and struggled to give clear answers. Jones said she was shocked that they were able to come out on top after their hopes in round 10 looked bleak. This is Jones’ second appearance in the Olympics after securing gold in 2014.
With the door closed on qualifying for the 2022 Olympics. Many teams have already shifted their focused to the 2026 Olympics. Gushue hinted at this in an interview when he said teams are already starting to make the adjustments necessary to give them the best opportunity to win, whether that’s better training, roster changes, etc.
Gushue, after failing to qualify for the Olympics 3 straight times, that going through the adjustment progress following disappointing losses is a very difficult, and can involve a lot of talking behind one’s back and feelings getting hurt, causing fractured relationships between people.
The Winter Olympics run from February 4th, 2022 until February 20th. Both Gushue and Jones are hoping history can repeat itself after successful first Olympic appearances.
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