A waiting game many curlers and curling fans alike across Canada have been wanting to be over, has finally ended.
Thursday morning, Curling Canada, with the assistance of Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, revealed Rachel Homan and John Morris as the mixed doubles team for Canada competing at the Beijing Olympics. The selection process became necessary when last month’s Olympic trials in Manitoba were cancelled due to the threat of COVID-19.
Homan, who skipped her four-person team at the Olympics in Pyeongchang four years ago, says while it’s not the way anyone wanted this decision to be made, she’s elated at the chance to represent Canada again at the Games.
“It’s the phone call everyone dreams of. You try and prepare your whole life for this moment and that’s what John and I have done,” she told CBC Sports.
“We feel like we’re in a really great spot. We’re excited to put the Maple Leaf on and want to hear a lot of cheers from everyone back home. We’re going to do everything we can and put everything we have into each game over there.”
Morris is going to his third Olympics, having already collected gold twice previously at the Games, at the 2010 Vancouver Games and an historic first mixed doubles title with Kaitlyn Lawes in South Korea.
The 43-year-old from Ottawa is eyeing a golden curling Olympic hat trick.
“I think we have an awesome dynamic that goes back a long way. It would be special to bring more hardware back home,” he said.
“We have an outstanding team. Although it’s a different Olympics over in China in the middle of a pandemic, we think it’s going to be awesome. We’re hoping Canadians are going to set their alarm clocks and enjoy this journey with us.”
Homan and Morris, along with Curling Canada mixed doubles coach Scott Pfeifer are renting a home in Canmore for the next couple of weeks and will be isolating together, training together and practicing on the ice together before flying to Beijing later this month.
Avoiding a positive COVID-19 test and staying mentally healthy are the top priorities of the team right now.
“We had to tie up some family stuff to make sure everything was good on the homefront. Johnny and I both have little ones, but we have such supportive family and friends,” Homan said.
“Making sure we’re sticking together and keeping our bubble really tight. We just want to make sure we’re mentally 100 per cent there. We’re going to need all the support we can get to be at our best.”
