{"id":484636,"date":"2026-02-19T05:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T05:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/484636\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T05:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T05:52:16","slug":"team-homan-wins-nailbiter-in-extra-end-antoine-cyr-solid-in-6th-ottawasportspages-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/484636\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Homan wins nailbiter in extra end, Antoine Cyr solid in 6th \u2013 OttawaSportsPages.ca"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This coverage was first sent as an email newsletter to our subscribers. Sign up to receive it, for free, on our Ottawa at the Olympics page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Newsletter by Dan Plouffe, Martin Cleary & Keiran Gorsky<\/p>\n

Exhale Team Homan curling fans, but only for a breath or two, because the most nervous wheezing likely lies ahead.<\/p>\n

The Ottawa Curling Club rink of Rachel Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes survived a Wednesday match against Italy to prevail 8-7 in an extra end and give themselves a chance to book a ticket to the medal round with a win on Thursday at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.<\/p>\n

Facing the 2-5 host nation that had nothing to lose since they\u2019d already been eliminated from playoff contention, Team Homan opened up breathing room in a few instances but struggled to hold the pesky Italians down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been resilient for sure. It\u2019s not always been easy, and we knew from the last two world championships that that was how it was going to be,\u201d Miskew told TSN\u2019s Bryan Mudryk after Canada improved its record to 5-3. \u201cWe knew that there were going to be battles this week. We knew that we were going to have tough games. Everyone who earns the right to get here is exceptionally good at their positions for their country.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we were just trying to stick it with it one shot at a time here, and even if we miss a couple, just trying to bounce back.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a relative stalemate through the first half of the match, the Canadians put good pressure on their opponents to steal two points in the sixth end to go up 5-2.<\/p>\n

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But Italy stuck around with consecutive single points to setup a nervous ninth end. Team Homan had two of three major misses on consecutive shots in the ninth and seemed destined to be forced to take only one point with the hammer.<\/p>\n

But just when you saw signs of stress compacting and possibly set to implode, Homan absolutely nailed an improbable draw that required pinpoint accuracy and an extra bit of spin, with her teammates perfectly managing the shot on ice that had often tricked them to score a pair.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great shot. She threw exactly the way that we wanted to,\u201d Miskew said of her teammate since the start<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the relief of a three-point cushion in the final end evaporated as Homan was forced to make a game-saving double takeout with her last shot to limit Italy to just three points. And then in the extra end, she was left with a testy draw to the four foot ring to either win or lose the match.<\/p>\n

Celebrated a day earlier for a heavyweight hit that turned their match with previously-unbeaten Sweden, Homan delivered a fine touch under pressure as she showed why her old coach Earle Morris called her \u201cthe best shot-making female skip on the planet\u201d when she was still a junior.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ottawa\u2019s Emma Miskew (right) and Sarah Wilkes in Team Homan\u2019s 2026 Olympic opener. Photo: Candice Ward \/ COC<\/p>\n

Miskew was relieved that the adjustments they made were effective as they battled with rocks and changing ice conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really just tried to learn the best that we could out there and try to make the next one,\u201d signalled the Brookfield High School and Carleton University grad. \u201cThankfully that last draw we got it there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada now sits in a three-way tie for third place with South Korea and USA for the final two places in the semi-finals behind 7-2 Sweden and 6-2 Switzerland.<\/p>\n

Team Homan must win their final round robin match against the Koreans since the Americans hold the tiebreaker advantage over Canada thanks to their earlier win.<\/p>\n

Beating Italy ensured that a Canada win over Korea would guarantee their spot in Friday\u2019s semis, which would represent a remarkable turnaround from their 1-3 start.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just happy to still be in a position that we can control our own destiny, and we\u2019re just trying to stick with one shot at a time again and not really think ahead too much,\u201d added Miskew, momentarily sounding like a Mike Evelyn O\u2019Higgins\/Jay Dearborn interview imitating hockey players<\/a>. \u201cWe know that we can manage to win tough games that aren\u2019t always looking as good at the start, and we\u2019re just gonna keep with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antoine Cyr scores impressive 6th-place finish in cross-country skiing team sprint<\/p>\n

\"\"Antoine Cyr. Photo: Nordiq Canada \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Gatineau\u2019s Antoine Cyr<\/a> and Canadian teammate Xavier McKeever earned a very strong sixth-place result in the cross-country skiing men\u2019s team sprint free event on Wednesday morning in Tesero.<\/p>\n

They recorded a time of 18:38.69 to finish less than 10 seconds behind champion Norway and 6.4 seconds back of host Italy for the final podium place as the teammates took turns skiing 1.5-kilometre laps three times each.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a really tough race. There were a lot of really good teams,\u201d McKeever said via the Canadian Olympic Committee. \u201cThe pace was a little more relaxed at the start, but it rose with every lap. We just tried to stay in the top pack and make good exchanges.<\/p>\n

\u201cTony did a really good job to put me in a really good place for my last lap. I was just missing a little bit of gas to be able to stay with the podium group, but I\u2019m super proud of our efforts. We left everything on the course.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Antoine Cyr. Photo: Nordiq Canada \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

After safely advancing from the earlier qualifications among the top-15 out of 27 entries, the Canadians kept their spot near the front of the race throughout the final, with Cyr tagging McKeever for the final anchor leg ranked sixth, just 3.3 seconds away from the lead skier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super happy with our team\u2019s effort. I think we have super nice chemistry,\u201d underlined Cyr, the 27-year-old Skinouk athlete who was paired with 22-year-old McKeever of Canmore, AB. \u201cI think we\u2019re starting to develop a super strong team with lots of potential. I think today was the proof. At the Olympic Games, to finish in sixth, you know, we were right there the whole time on the course.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot of fun and it\u2019s super exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Antoine Cyr (left) and Xavier McKeever. Photo: Nordiq Canada \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

In biathlon, Canada\u2019s result wasn\u2019t as encouraging, with the women\u2019s 4\u00d76 km relay team failing to finish after getting lapped in the third leg of the race to place 19th out of 20.<\/p>\n

University of Ottawa Gee-Gees product Shilo Rousseau<\/a> kept Canada alive as she moved Canada up from 19th to 18th during the second leg. The 25-year-old first-time Olympian was perfect in the prone shooting position and avoided penalty by only using two extra bullets to hit all the targets in the standing shooting portion.<\/p>\n

In earlier events, Rousseau placed 78th in the women\u2019s 15 km individual and 80th in the women\u2019s 7.5 km sprint. The mass start is the last remaining event on the biathlon programme.<\/p>\n

1960 Olympic slalom champion Anne Heggtveit\u2019s first Olympics 70 years ago at Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo<\/p>\n

Today in Cortina, the most successful World Cup alpine skier of all time Mikaela Shiffrin was again crowned an Olympic champion in the women\u2019s slalom, a dozen years after the American became the youngest person to ever win the Olympic slalom at age 18.<\/p>\n

\"\"1960 Olympic champion Anne Heggtveit. Photo: Library and Archives Canada<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, the title of the youngest ever Olympic women\u2019s slalom champion belonged to Ottawa\u2019s Anne Heggtveit.<\/p>\n

It was 70 years ago that Heggtveit first became an Olympian at Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo in 1956, although she recently told Ottawa Sports Pages High Achievers columnist Martin Cleary that those Games were not particularly memorable<\/a> as she placed 22nd in the downhill, 29th in the giant slalom and 30th in the slalom..<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something I think about,\u201d insisted Heggtveit, who now lives in Cornelius, North Carolina, with her husband James Ross Hamilton. \u201cIt was so difficult for me. It\u2019s not memorable.\u201d<\/p>\n

What made it especially frustrating for the New Edinburgh-raised athlete was that she had spent most of the previous year recovering from a serious left leg injury and wondering if she would be healthy for the 1956 Cortina Olympics.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 31, 1955, she sustained a spiral fracture of her leg during a slalom practice. She spent three months in the Ottawa Civic Hospital, wore a leg cast for six to seven months and worried about nerve damage.<\/p>\n

A student at Lisgar Collegiate Institute at the time, she missed the Canadian trials for the 1956 Olympics, but was named to the team as a 17-year-old based on her past performances, including seventh place in the slalom and ninth in the downhill at the 1954 world championships at age 15.<\/p>\n

\"\"Anne Heggtveit. Photo: Canadian Ski Hall of Fame and Museum<\/p>\n

When Heggtveit wants to think about something memorable, she focuses on the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. Her Games started somewhat slow, but ended with her becoming the second-ever Canadian Winter Olympic champion, and the second from Ottawa too.<\/p>\n

Heggtveit, now 87, still remembers how she was inspired as a nine-year-old when she was among thousands of Ottawa citizens who welcomed home 1948 Olympic figure skating champion Barbara Ann Scott at a downtown parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget that. She was my first idol, a non-skier, but really memorable,\u201d Heggtveit highlighted. \u201cShe did it. I thought I could do it. The fact she did it, that\u2019s all she had to do for me. It was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heggtveit had designs on winning gold at the 1960 Olympics, but she had some doubts because handling the turns around the gates presented her with some discomfort because of the earlier injury to her left leg. The top part of the first run also had some tricky icy sections that could cause a skier to slide off course.<\/p>\n

You can read Cleary\u2019s full retrospective on Heggtveit\u2019s historic performance in this story on OttawaSportsPages.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ottawa Olympians in action on Feb. 19:<\/p>\n

Day 13 Preview: Canadian women\u2019s hockey team seeks to reverse recent trends and overcome USA juggernaut<\/p>\n

Ottawa\u2019s Kayle Osborne and the Canadian women\u2019s hockey team will collect gold or silver medals after their championship game against USA on Thursday, and as you\u2019ve certainly heard, the expected result is silver.<\/p>\n

Up to this point, Osborne has often experienced sinking feelings when facing the stars and stripes in international competitions.<\/p>\n

The John McCrae Secondary School grad\u2019s first bitter taste came when she served as backup to \u00c8ve Gascon in a 2-1 overtime defeat at the 2020 IIHF U18 Women\u2019s Hockey World Championship.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kayle Osborne. Photo: Hockey Canada \/ X<\/p>\n

In this season\u2019s Canada vs USA Rivalry Series, Osborne was beaten five times on 31 shots while Ottawa Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips turned aside 29 of 30 in the 6-1 trouncing by USA, which won all four Rivalry Series contests by at least three goals when the women\u2019s hockey powers met in November and December.<\/p>\n

With an embarrassing 5-0 spanking in the preliminary round last week<\/a>, all signs point to Canada accepting silver come the final buzzer Thursday. But despite the unsettling recent history, Osborne has every bit of faith that Canada will show its true potential in the biggest moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to see how special this group was, and not just see it, but be a part of it. It\u2019s something you can\u2019t really explain,\u201d Osborne said of her pre-Games prep with Team Canada in conversation with the Ottawa Sports Pages\u2019 Keiran Gorsky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As Canada\u2019s #3 goalie, the odds of seeing Osborne between the pipes Thursday are next to nil \u2013 making the Canadian Olympic team was the 23-year-old\u2019s major accomplishment.<\/p>\n

We could see fellow goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who has ties to the Ottawa area<\/a>, and we\u2019ll certainly see current Ottawa Charge players Brianne Jenner, Emily Clark and Jocelyne Larocque for Team Canada, and maybe a bit of Rory Guilday for Team USA along with Philips, who is expected to be backup.<\/p>\n

The only other Ottawa athletes in action on Thursday will be curlers Rachel Homan and Emma Miskew (as outlined above) in a winner-moves-on, loser-goes-home match with South Korea.<\/p>\n

Preview: Keaton Bruggeling to join bobsleigh big show for four-man event<\/p>\n

\"\"Keaton Bruggeling. Photo: IBSF<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s second official training run in advance of the start of the four-man bobsleigh competition on Saturday morning, Keaton Bruggeling<\/a> helped push Canada to the second-fastest start time and ninth-fastest down time in an encouraging sign for the top Canadian men\u2019s bobsled.<\/p>\n

Like fellow Carleton University Ravens football product Jay Dearborn, the Canada-2 pilot, Bruggeling is one of three Canadian bobsledders who can trace their roots in the sliding sport to CANAM Strength and Conditioning on Colonnade Rd. in Nepean<\/a>, brakeman Mike Evelyn O\u2019Higgins being the third.<\/p>\n

In a sport where the initial push-off is just as important as the subsequent descent, the explosive speed and upper-body strength of football players come in handy. Bruggeling is a past Ottawa Redblacks receiver and current Hamilton Tiger-Cat who misses the first chunk of bobsled preseason at the tail end of his CFL season.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t a simple matter of hopping into a sled in the winter \u2013 both sports call for distinct physical profiles. The 27-year-old has to put on some weight come late October to be ready to heave the massive 460-pound sled in November.<\/p>\n

\"\"Keaton Bruggeling at the 2025 IBSF World Championships in Lake Placid, NY. Photo: Dan Plouffe<\/p>\n

\u201cBobsleigh is not an easy sport on your body,\u201d Bruggeling signalled in an interview with Gorsky<\/a> the day he was officially named to his first Olympic team.<\/p>\n

The Olympics were never on Bruggeling\u2019s radar until former Team USA bobsledder Adam Blandford, the CANAM co-owner, introduced him to the idea and noted he had the type of profile they\u2019re after in the sport.<\/p>\n

Olympians are often asked to spare a few words of wisdom for youngsters. Bruggeling, instead, has a message for everyone else.\u2028<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t a prospective Olympian until two years ago,\u201d noted the St. Catharines, ON-raised athlete. \u201cIt is not too late. It is never too late to start and to try something new. This is one of those unique sports where you can join. It\u2019s not hyper skill based. You won\u2019t run into a lot of barriers and hurdles on your way. It\u2019s a lovely sport for that. And it brings all kinds of people together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first two runs of the four-man bobsleigh event are set for Saturday, with the last two on Sunday. You can read Gorsky\u2019s full feature on the local bobsled crew here on OttawaSportsPages.ca<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

~ SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM ~<\/p>\n

We need your help to keep producing the local sports news you can\u2019t find anywhere else!<\/a><\/p>\n

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