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Brett Gallant will make history at the Cortina Olympics in Milan when he becomes the first Canadian curler to compete in two events at the same Winter Games.
The event should also erase the advantage that some other countries enjoyed at previous Olympics when their athletes competed in mixed doubles and fours events.
Curling Canada changed its policy this time to four years to allow players to compete in both events. In addition to giving curlers two chances at the podium, it gives teams valuable information about the ice, rocks and conditions in game scenarios.
“We would like to have a training camp on Olympic ice before the Olympics,” Jacobs coach Paul Webster said. “Brett will just do it for us. So we're very excited.”
The competition will open at the Olympic Curling Stadium in Cortina in mixed doubles. Gallant and his partner Jocelyn Peterman will begin play on February 4th.
A week later, Gallant will join his Canadian men's team, skipped by Brad Jacobs, in their first game. The Canadian women's team, skipped by Rachel Homan, starts on February 12.
“Rarely in any other sport will you have an advanced scout in front of you on the playing field. [in our case it's] ice conditions,” Webster said. – Brett is an extremely smart player in terms of reading the ice, strategy, rocks and all that.
“Having [mixed doubles coaches] Scott Pfeiffer and Lane Peters in their corner to help track [also helps]. So we'll get some information about the rocks, we'll get some ice. [details]”
Jacobs led his Calgary team to victory over Winnipeg's Matt Dunston in the Canadian curling finals in Montana over the weekend. Ottawa's Homan defeated hometown favorite Christina Black of Halifax for the women's crown.
Skip Brad Jacobs discusses his team's victory and representing Canada at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
'It's an amazing feeling' to see hard work pay off
All three Olympic teams will take part in training camps in Europe before the start of the Games.
“We've had to work hard over the years to achieve some of these goals,” Gallant said. “So to see some of this pay off is an amazing feeling.”
Curling in Canada has not previously allowed Canadian athletes to compete in both events, preferring for curlers to focus on one event and not risk becoming too tired.
Canada has won 12 Olympic medals across all curling events since 1998, but has not won a team gold since the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia. Jacobs won the men's gold that year, while Jennifer Jones took the women's crown.
John Morris and Caitlin Laws won gold when mixed doubles made its Olympic debut at the 2018 PyeongChang Games in South Korea, but Canada did not win a medal for four players.
Jones missed the podium in the women's team competition in 2022 in Beijing. Homan and Morris didn't make it to the playoffs mixed doubles and Brad Gushue earned bronze in the men's team competition.
Other countries tried the double at the Games. In 2022, Sweden's Oscar Eriksson earned bronze in mixed doubles before winning men's team gold with skip Niklas Edin.
Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat finished fourth in the UK mixed doubles that year, before Dodds won the women's gold with Eve Muirhead. Muath later led his men's team to silver.
CBC Sports' Devin Heroux spoke with Rachel Homan, who will be aiming for an Olympic medal after missing out on the curling podium in 2018 and the mixed doubles podium in 2022.
Olympic berth secured last May
In 2018, American Matt Hamilton was sixth in mixed doubles and then helped his team of four, skipped by Jon Shuster, win men's gold.
Gallant and Peterman won mixed doubles trials in January last year. Last May they secured Canada's Olympic berth at the World Championships.
“You have an athlete who can come in and get comfortable on the court. [with the] ice conditions, they can read a lot of things, they feel comfortable in the athletes' village and just get their feet under them,” said Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen. “It might help the rest of the team when they get there too.
“Brett can say, 'OK, this is where we're going,' and there's less of that unknown for them.”
Olympic qualifying competitions, the last chance to compete in the Winter Games, begin Friday at the Kelowna Curling Club in British Columbia.
The competition will determine the final two places in women's, men's and mixed doubles at the Cortina Olympic Games in Milan.
Eight teams will take part in the women's and men's tournaments. Sixteen duets, divided into two groups, will compete in mixed doubles.
The competition continues until December 18.
