Before the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, before the Olympic Qualification Event 2025 in Kelowna, Canada, before any thoughts of representing the United States come into view, first, there are the U.S. Olympic Curling Team Trials.

A five-day-long showdown featuring the North American nation’s best men’s and women’s curling teams, it promises to whittle down the challengers into a champion, who will then face a long road ahead as they try to secure the US one of the last two remaining quotas for the team events at next year’s Games in February.

For 38-year-old Chris Plys, already twice an Olympian at Vancouver 2010 and Beijing 2022, the decisive showdown brings up an array of thoughts and feelings.

Speaking at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) summit in New York at the end of October, Plys shared a palpable enthusiasm for the challenge, even against the backdrop of a recent injury.

Earlier in the year, the curler had a mountain bike accident, which resulted in herniated disks in his neck, a pinched nerve, and the loss of complete muscle function in some areas.

It put Plys somewhat on the back foot at a crucial junction. 

“I remember like late June, I was sitting on my couch being like, ‘Well, this sucks. This is not really how I imagined it.’ Because when you’re in Olympic sports, it’s not like a one-year thing, right? It’s a four-year commitment,” he shared with journalists, including Olympics.com, on the subject of his preparations.

But with adaptations and some effort, he has mostly recovered, paving the way for a sense of optimism surrounding the trials, not least thanks to his team’s strong showing already this year, including a silver at the Pan Continental Curling Championships 2025. 

“This is the best start to a season we’ve ever had as a team. So we’re feeling very confident, there’s definitely some good competition there, but I think the one thing that’s on our team, we just have so much experience, and those trials, they’re different than a nationals or any other big competition,” he continued. 

“There is just extra added kind of looming pressure that’s easy for young teams to kind of feel, and I think John’s won the last five trials, and we just have so much experience and so much trust in each other that yeah, we’re very excited for the opportunity.”