Homan and Morris to join Gushue, Jones in Beijing
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Canada’s Olympic curling teams are ultimately full
Stones start flying in Beijing in 20 days, but it took until today for Canada to mention their last entry. John Morris and Rachel Homan will defend the blended increases gold medal that Morris claimed in 2018 with previous teammate Kaitlyn Lawes.
Homan and Morris had been among 16 groups which were expected to contend for Canada’s area from inside the Olympic contest at the national blended increases trials in Manitoba prior to the show got cancelled final thirty days. A Curling Canada-led panel invested the last few weeks determining which duo to transmit to Asia, weighing factors like previous mixed-doubles show along side worldwide achievements in traditional straightening. Another flashy pairing within the flowing had been reigning Scotties champ Kerri Einarson and 2014 Olympic men’s silver medallist Brad Jacobs. There was also substantial lobbying from participants just who dedicate themselves to mixed increases and think that should rely.
But, all things considered, skill obtained down. In the event that aim is to submit the group because of the finest roof, then your collection panel satisfied on the most obvious pick. Morris, 43, was a proven Olympic musician who won a men’s gold medal as the next for Kevin before taking the blended increases subject with Lawes in 2018. The 32-year-old Homan the most successful curlers actually ever, with three Scotties brands and some sort of championship inside her trophy instance. And theirs is not any shotgun relationship. Homan and Morris bring played blended doubles with each other since 2015. Morris looked to Lawes four years ago after Homan claimed the Canadian ladies trials, which made the girl ineligible for Olympic combined increases as a result of the styling Canada rules prohibiting anybody from fighting much more than one curling event at the same video games.
For Lawes, she’s heading to Beijing also as an associate for the Jennifer Jones-skipped rink that won the Canadian ladies studies in acquired the men’s room. In Gushue and Jones, Canada may have a former Olympic silver medallist at avoid both in of this old-fashioned styling competitions in Beijing.
Given that we eventually understand every person who’s playing for Canada, let’s capture an instant consider the three Olympic styling tournaments and what the Canadian groups were experiencing:
First, let us appreciate the comfort of Olympic curling competitions. All three activities start with a 10-team round robin, additionally the best four advance toward semifinals. The semifinal champions wager silver. The semifinal losers wager bronze. No web page playoffs, no strange triple-knockout brackets to decipher. Easy.
In 2018, whenever combined increases produced the Olympic introduction with an eight-team event, Morris and Lawes had been a wrecking baseball. After dropping her opener to Norway, they reeled down eight direct victories to take gold, including a 10-3 demolition of Switzerland in the best.
The silver-medal Swiss duo of Jenny Perret and Martin Rios are back for Beijing. So will be the Norwegian pairing of Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten, have been granted bronze following the guy regarding Russian teams that beat all of them failed a doping test. Besides Homan, truly the only additional big-name avoid active in the mixed increases event is fantastic Britain’s Bruce Mouat, a two-time European men’s champ which grabbed silver during the men’s planets a year ago.
A huge storyline in Beijing are Homan’s try to get herself from a disastrous displaying during the women’s celebration in 2018. Their team moved 4-5 and turned into the first Canadian rink to overlook the playoffs during the Olympics.
The blended doubles occasion becomes underway Feb. 2 at 7:05 a.m. ET, and Homan and Morris perform their unique very first game that evening at 8:05 p.m. ET vs. britain. The semifinals are on the early morning of e is the following day at 7:05 a.m. ET.
Canada also flopped contained in this show in 2018, with Kevin Koe’s teams losing during the semifinals to eventual champ John Shuster regarding the U.S. then acquiring disappointed by Switzerland inside bronze-medal video game. Before these video games, no Canadian styling professionals had actually neglected to win a medal. In Pyeongchang, both traditional teams did.
For Gushue, a great deal has changed since the guy acquired his Olympic gold medal in Italy 16 in years past. Back then, he was a skilled though significantly natural youngster just who threw 4th rocks but leaned throughout the legendary Russ Howard to contact games from the 2nd place (inside recognized Olympic files, Howard are listed because skip). Now Gushue is grown-up – a 41-year-old father of two that’s totally in demand of his art. He captured three Brier games from 2017-20 and some sort of championship in ’17. Gushue grabbed care of company because favorite at Canadian trials in e en route to defeating Jacobs when you look at the final.
Your competitors in Beijing should be difficult. It includes Shuster, Mouat and five-time globe champion Nik Edin of Sweden, who is interested in his first Olympic gold after getting bronze in 2014 and gold in ’18. The contest starts Feb. 8 at 7:05 a.m. ET, when Canada deals with Denmark. The semis are early morning of e try Feb. 18 at 1:05 a.m. ET.
Jennifer Jones try curling royalty – the champion of a record-tying six Scotties, a two-time community champ and an Olympic gold medallist in 2014. But their triumph within Canadian studies ended up being somewhat of a shock. At 47, Jones ended up being regarded as past the lady primary, and a lot of observers rated this lady behind Homan, Einarson and also the red-hot Tracy Fleury. Sure enough, Jones shed to ones within the round robin. But when the potato chips comprise down she arrived through, trouncing Krista McCarville from inside https://besthookupwebsites.org/eharmony-vs-okcupid/ the semis before stealing the ultimate from an undefeated Fleury in a supplementary end.
In Beijing, Jones might be up against all three medallists from 2018: defending champ Anna Hasselborg of Sweden, South Korea’s Kim Eun-jung (sterling silver) and Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa (bronze). Additionally the champion of the finally two world championships – Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni – and 2013 business champ Eve Muirhead of good Britain, which grabbed Olympic bronze in 2014.