Team Jacobs, rear from left to right, Brad Jacobs, Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant, and Ben Hebert, with the winning women’s team, from left to right, Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew, and Sarah Wilkes, following the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax on Saturday.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
The final rock has been thrown at the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials. The week-and-a-half-long party has wrapped inside the Patch at the Halifax Convention Centre.
The cream rose to the top, and Canada’s curling team for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics is now set. Rachel Homan’s rink withstood the pressure of being an overwhelming favourite and won the women’s spot. Team Brad Jacobs emerged from one of the deepest Canadian men’s fields in recent memory.
The whole team – including the mixed-doubles duo of Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman, who previously earned their berth – is loaded with curlers who have Olympic experience.
Team Jacobs punches Olympic ticket with 6-5 win over Winnipeg’s Dunstone
Twelve years after he won Olympic gold in Sochi, Jacobs returns to the Winter Games, this time leading a veteran Alberta-based rink full of curlers with rich Olympic resumes. He expects the 2026 Olympic bonspiel will be the most difficult of his career.
“The last Olympics was a little bit easier. That’s maybe an understatement, because the teams nowadays on the men’s and women’s side have been working so hard for the last 10 years or so,” said Jacobs. “It’s not going to be an easy task for our team and Homan’s team, but you know what? We’re up for the challenge.”
Lead Ben Hebert, 42, and third Marc Kennedy, 43, won gold 16 years ago at the Vancouver Olympics with Team Kevin Martin, and finished fourth playing for Team Kevin Koe in 2018.
“When I was 25, it was someone else’s plan. That was Kevin Martin’s plan, and he was kind of our leader, and we were the followers,” said Hebert. “This time feels equally amazing, and now we know what to expect … doing it our way with Brad Jacobs… we built this team for this moment, and to do it our way, from all the experiences that we took along the way.”
Team Jacobs skip Brad Jacobs, second from right, celebrates with teammates after winning the Canadian Olympic curling trials over Team Dunstone in Halifax on Saturday.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Kennedy will be making his fourth trip to an Olympics, as he was also an alternate for Brad Gushue’s bronze medal-winning team at Beijing in 2022. Playing one of his best games yet to help steer Team Jacobs to the Olympic berth on Saturday, Kennedy said the fullness of his career has helped him feel mentally ready.
“I’ve had a great career,” said Kennedy. “I didn’t have to win this, and maybe that freed me up to play really well today and not be nervous.”
Gallant, 35 will be pulling double duty in Cortina, competing in mixed doubles with his wife, Peterman, plus playing second for Team Jacobs on the men’s side. He was on Gushue’s team in Beijing, a Winter Games during the pandemic where no fans could attend. With that experience in his memory, Gallant got teary-eyed talking about how Italy will be different.
“I’m really excited that my family is going to be able to come this time. They weren’t able to be there in Beijing,” said Gallant. “So they’re all coming, and that’s really special.”
Peterman was at the 2022 Olympics too, as a second for Team Jennifer Jones.
Team Homan skip Rachel Homan, right, watches a stone from the house as Team Black skip Christina Black looks on during Game 2 of the women’s final at the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax on Saturday.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
This will be Rachel Homan’s third Olympic appearance, but the 36-year-old skip from Ottawa is still seeking her first medal. She and long time-friend Emma Miskew finished sixth in the women’s event in 2018 and then Homan was fifth in mixed doubles with John Morris in 2022.
This time she and second Miskew are joined by third and vice skip Tracy Fleury, 39, and lead Sarah Wilkes, 35.
“It’s still the hardest tournament you’ll ever play in,” said Homan. “We’re excited to be going together with this team.”
Miskew, 36, said she will feel better prepared at her second Olympics for how different it feels from other international curling events. While they will see many of the same teams at the Olympics, there is more media, and the spotlight is brighter.
“I think it was just a very overwhelming experience at the start, and we didn’t really know that it would be like that,” said Miskew of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. “The fact that Rachel and I have been there, we know how we can help the other two … we just have to be prepared for what that looks like, and just also try to stay still in our bubble.”