Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant left nothing to doubt at the Canadian mixed doubles Olympic curling trials, going undefeated throughout the entire event to capture gold and earn the chance to represent Canada at Milano 2026.
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Devin Heroux · CBC Sports
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Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant left nothing to doubt at the Canadian mixed doubles Olympic curling trials, going undefeated throughout the entire event to capture gold and earn the chance to represent Canada at Milano 2026.
Peterman and Gallant defeated Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher 8-7 in the championship game on Saturday afternoon in Liverpool, N.S.
The married couple from Chestermere, Alta., were at the last Olympics for Canada in Beijing with their four-person teams — now they have the opportunity to get there together.
“Surreal. We put a lot into this. I’m obviously emotional and proud of the way we performed,” said Gallant, fighting back tears.
“It means a lot to us. We have that experience of being at the Olympics at the same time but not together. To be able to do it on the same team, we know there’s work left to do, but it’s an honour to wear the maple leaf again.”
With a capacity crowd of upwards of roughly 1,000 spectators inside Queens Place Emera Centre on Saturday afternoon, Peterman and Gallant put on a curling clinic, wowing the fans by making shot after shot.
Both teams came out firing early in the high stakes games, loading up the house with granite by playing delicate taps and draw shots.
Homan missed her final shot of the first end, however, opening up the opportunity for Peterman to make a tap for three and she didn’t miss.
Peterman and Gallant kept rolling from there, adding to their lead in the second end by stealing a point after Homan hit the guard with her last stone. The early 4-0 lead would prove to be insurmountable.
At the fourth end break, Peterman and Gallant were in complete control leading 6-1. Homan and Bottcher tried to mount a comeback in the fifth end, scoring two with their power play and cutting the lead to 6-3. That’s as close as they would get.
“We were just determined. Brett works harder than anyone I know and he had his mind set we were winning this,” said Peterman.
“We had a great week and we fought for a lot of wins and I’m proud of it.”
WATCH | Peterman, Gallant celebrate trials gold medal:
Peterman, Gallant victorious at Canadian mixed doubles curling trials
Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant defeat Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher 8-7 in the championship game at the Canadian mixed doubles Olympic curling trials. The married couple from Chestermere, Alta., earn the chance to represent Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Work only beginning
In some respects the work has only just begun for Peterman and Gallant, who are now tasked with representing Canada at the mixed doubles curling world championships set to take place in Fredericton in late-April and early May.
Curling Canada made the change this Olympic cycle to move the trials a year earlier to give the winning team the opportunity to qualify Canada for the Olympics at the world championships — and to also allow them more time to prepare for the Games should they qualify.
Last year’s world championship results and this year’s worlds results goes towards qualifying nations for the upcoming Olympics — Italy is guaranteed a spot by virtue of being the hosts (it are also the defending Olympic champions).
Canada’s Kadriana Lott and Cotlon Lott finished fifth last year, good enough for 16 points. That means Peterman and Gallant will likely need a top-six showing at this year’s championship.
Should they be able to qualify Canada for the Olympics, they will then be heading to Milan wearing the maple leaf.
“They’ve been one of our best mixed doubles teams for a really long time. With a year of preparation and with their four-person teams they’re going to be well prepared.”
“We’re thrilled with our representative and I know all of Canada will be behind them,” said Curling Canada CEO, Nolan Thiessen.
Peterman and Gallant are no strangers to representing Canada at mixed doubles world championships — they are two-time Canadian champions (2016, 2019). The duo won silver for Canada at the 2019 worlds in Stavanger, Norway. They were also selected to represent Canada at the 2022 worlds in the midst of the pandemic, losing in the quarterfinals.
“It’s a privilege and honour to wear the maple leaf. Even having this jacket on today is a great feeling and I can’t wait to do it again.”
Important change
It’s also important to highlight another important change made by Curling Canada.
In the past, Canadian curlers had to make the difficult decision to either compete in the four-person game or mixed doubles at the Olympics — they could not play in both.
That limiting decision was scrutinized by fans and curlers, especially considering many other countries allowed their curlers to compete in both. Now, Canadian curlers have the option should they win both the mixed doubles and four-person trials, to compete in both.
Canada’s Kailtyn Lawes and John Morris won the first-ever mixed doubles Olympic gold medal at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang.
The Olympic trials in late 2021 were cancelled due to the pandemic. Curling Canada then selected Homan and Morris to represent the country at the Beijing Olympics. The duo just failed to qualify for the playoffs.
This marks the third time mixed doubles will be contested at the Olympics.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Devin Heroux reports for CBC News and Sports. He is now based in Toronto, after working first for the CBC in Calgary and Saskatoon.
