Canada's path to mixed doubles gold at Beijing Olympics

Rachel Homan and John Morris are set to take on the world at the Beijing Olympics.

Action from the National Aquatics Centre begins on Wednesday, Feb. 2, two days before the Opening Ceremonies.

The Canadian curling veterans were chosen to represent the country at the Winter Games after the Mixed Doubles Trials got the axe on Boxing Day due to the Omicron variant. Like any competitive athlete, Homan and Morris would have preferred to play and win their way to Beijing, but say they are still honoured and excited to don the Red and White on the international stage.

“Just a really strange time,” Morris told TSN’s Bob Weeks in a recent interview. “I'm sure this was not the way any of us that were participating in the Trials wanted to go, but under the circumstances, we’re pretty ecstatic and looking forward to wearing that Maple Leaf on our backs.”

Since being named Team Canada, the duo and coach Scott Pfeifer have spent their time at a cabin in Canmore, Alta., in part to quarantine and avoid catching the very contagious variant which could spell the end of their Olympics dreams.

Lisa Weagle and Marc Kennedy, alternates for Team Jennifer Jones and Team Brad Gushue, respectively, will fill in as backups if either Homan or Morris are forced to withdraw ahead of the start of the tournament.

Homan and Morris have been mixed doubles partners since 2017 when they earned a silver medal at that year’s Canadian championship, losing to Joanne Courtney and Reid Carruthers. Circumstance has forced them to play with different partners over the years. At the 2018 Trials, Morris teamed up with Kaitlyn Lawes as Homan was already headed to the Olympics in four-person curling. Morris and Lawes won the Trials and then would capture the first-ever Olympic mixed doubles gold medal in Pyeongchang. The 43-year-old Morris also won gold with Kevin Martin’s team at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

When they’ve been able to hit the ice together, Homan and Morris have found plenty of success. They went 8-0 to win the Qualico Mixed Doubles Classic in their lone event this season and have won 45 of their last 49 games overall.

The opposition in Beijing will be their toughest test yet as the mixed doubles discipline has grown at a rapid rate since making its Olympic debut four years ago. 

The top-four teams following the nine-game round robin will advance to the playoffs.

Let’s take a closer look at Canada’s path to gold in mixed doubles.

 

Game 1 - Canada vs. Great Britain

Feb. 2 at 8pm ET

Homan and Morris won’t have much time to settle in.

The Canadians will take on the reigning world mixed doubles champions from Great Britain in their opening game at the Olympics.

Representing Scotland, Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat defeated Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten in the gold-medal game at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Championship last spring. In the semis, the Scots ousted Canada’s Brad Gushue and Kerri Einarson.

Not only are they great together, but Dodds and Mouat play key roles on their four-person teams that will also compete for Great Britain at these Olympics. Mouat, 27, skips one of the best rinks on the planet, winning three out of the last four Grand Slams, this year’s European Curling Championship as well as making the finals of last year’s World Men’s Curling Championship in the Calgary bubble.

The 30-year-old Dodds plays second on Eve Muirhead’s rink who also won this year’s European title.

Morris and Lawes lost their opener to Norway four years ago in South Korea and then proceeded to run the table en route to gold-medal glory. The first match will be a tough, but it’s also early and no reason to worry if Canada is 0-1 following what could be a gold-medal preview.

 

Game 2 – Canada vs. Norway

Feb. 3 at 7am ET

It doesn’t get any easier for the Canadians in their second match.

Homan and Morris will square off against long-time mixed doubles teammates Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten of Norway.

The pair has played seven World Mixed Doubles Championships together, most recently earning the silver medal at last year’s event, losing to the Scots in the final.

They also have a bronze from 2015.

At the Olympic debut of mixed doubles four years ago, Skaslien and Nedregotten fell to the Olympic Athletes from Russia in the third-place game but were later awarded the bronze medal after Alexander Krushelnitskiy tested positive for a banned substance.

They’ve won two events on Tour this season.

Lawes and Morris lost to the Norwegians in their opener in 2018, so the Canadians will have their hands full to start the action in Beijing.

 

Game 3 – Canada vs. Switzerland

Feb. 3 at 7:35pm ET

Canada’s third game is against another team with plenty of international experience.

Switzerland’s Jenny Perret and Martin Rios lost the 2018 Olympic gold-medal final to Lawes and Morris in a blowout, 10-3. In 2017, the Swiss tandem defeated Canada’s Courtney and Carruthers in the final of the mixed doubles worlds to capture their first gold medal. Kerri Einarson and Brad Gushue beat them in the playoff qualifier at last year’s World Championship.

Rios also won gold at the 2012 World Mixed Doubles Championship with then-partner Nadine Lehmann.

In 2021-22, Perret and Rios have made the final four in four of five events, but never came out on top.

 

Game 4 – Canada vs. China

Feb. 4 at 12:35am ET

In their fourth game of the tournament, Homan and Morris will take on the host nation.

China selected Fan Suyuan and Ling Zhi to represent the country at the Beijing Games.

Zhi, 27, competed at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship with a different partner, going 4-5 and missing the playoffs.

Canada will be the heavy favourites in this one.

 

Game 5 – Canada vs. Sweden

Feb. 5 at 1am ET

The Swedes will be another gold-medal contender in Beijing.

Oskar Eriksson, third for Team Niklas Edin, and Almida de Val, third for Team Isabella Wrana, are just in their second season together, but have already found plenty of chemistry. At last year’s mixed doubles worlds, the tandem went a perfect 9-0 in round robin play, beating the likes of Norway and Switzerland, who will both compete in this year’s Winter Games. Norway would get their revenge in the semi-final before Sweden defeated Canada in the bronze-medal match, 7-4.

Eriksson, 30, and de Val, 24, have only played a pair of mixed doubles events this season and were finalists at a bonspiel in Gothenburg where they lost to Skaslien and Nedregotten.

Sweden and Canada have always been rivals in four-person curling. This could be the start of something special in mixed doubles.

 

Game 6 – Canada vs. United States

Feb. 5 at 7am ET

The United Sates are a strong tandem that could contend for a spot on the podium if they can force a few upsets.

Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys qualified for the Olympics thanks to a last-chance qualifier in the Netherlands.

Persinger and Plys are an impressive 15-3 this season over two events, going 8-3 at the U.S. Olympics Trials in October and a perfect 7-0 at the last-chance qualifier in December.

The Olympics will be one of their first mixed doubles events on the world stage, but they’ve played at numerous world championships with their four-person teams.

Plys, 34, also plays third for Team John Shuster who will look to defend the gold in men’s curling. 

The Americans will be another tough out for Homan and Morris.

 

Game 7 – Canada vs. Czech Republic

Feb. 6 at 1am ET

For the first time in Olympic history, Czech Republic will compete in curling.

The Czechs have never qualified a four-person team into the Games while Zuzana Paulová and Tomáš Paul just missed out on making the cut for the inaugural mixed doubles tournament in 2018.

The same duo has since taken the next step, beating the United States in a tiebreaker last spring at the mixed doubles worlds to claim the seventh and final Olympic spot that was up for grabs in that event.

Paulová and Paul have played in six World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships with their best performance coming in their first appearance in 2013, beating Norway to capture the bronze medal.

Czech Republic has plenty of experience in the discipline but will still be underdogs against the Canadians.

 

Game 8 – Canada vs. Australia

Feb. 6 at 7am ET

Morris says the game against Australia will be one of the toughest to compete in from a mental perspective. 

The soon to be three-time Olympian has coached Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt the past few seasons, helping them reach new heights after they became the first Aussie curling team to advance to the Olympics, earning their spot via a last-chance qualifier in the Netherlands in December.

The pair moved to Canmore, Alta., this season so they could train and prepare for the Olympics with Morris.

However, the two-time Olympian gold-medallist made it clear where his loyalties will lie when the action starts in Beijing.

“We’ve had some great chats and I’ve let them know…our ride essentially is over together,” said Morris in a recent Zoom scrum. “Our journey is over until after the Olympics because wearing the Maple Leaf, wearing that Red and White trumps all. My country is counting on me. Will it be hard for me? [It will] probably be one of my hardest games to play mentally because I’m such good friends with these guys. And will I be cheering for them in other games that they are playing? Yes.

“But I will not be helping them in any way while I’m over there because I got the Maple Leaf on my back and there ain’t no kangaroo on the Maple Leaf.”

Gill, 22, and Hewitt, 27, have competed in two World Mixed Doubles Championships as teammates, finishing a very solid fourth in 2019 and posting a 3-6 record at last year’s worlds. Before joining forces with Gill, Hewitt played in two world championships in 2017 and 2018 with his mother Lynn Hewitt.

On Halloween, the Aussies defeated Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres in the final of the Okotoks Mixed Doubles event.

“You guys probably don’t know them yet, but I’m sure you’ll get to know them during the Olympics,” said Morris.

This game will be fun to watch.

 

Game 9 – Canada vs. Italy

Feb. 6 at 8pm ET

Canada wraps up round-robin play against the Italians.

Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner went 7-2 in round robin play at last year’s world championships to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

At just 26, Mosaner has already appeared in five world championships and the 2018 Winter Olympics as a member of Joel Retornaz’s rink in the four-person discipline. Mosaner will be working double duty in Beijing as Italy will compete in the men’s division as well.

Constantini, 22, represented Italy at the 2018 and 2021 world championships in four-person curling.

In 2021-22, the Italian tandem have reached two finals on Tour, losing each time.

Constantini and Mosaner – and maybe even Canada, considering the stacked field – could be fighting for their playoff lives in this contest, so it should be a compelling one to close out the preliminary round.