Win or lose, Jones is in a great place

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This article was published 19/02/2014 (4245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SOCHI, Russia — Gold, silver, bronze or no medal at all, Jennifer Jones is going to be just fine.

“I’m so happy in life. Curling is something I love to do and we’re at the Olympic Games. I feel like I’m living this dream. I’ve got this amazing little girl (daughter Isabella), my life is wonderful and I’m at the Olympics curling with the best group of girls in the world. Life couldn’t get any better for me,” the 39-year-old Jones said Tuesday prior to today’s semifinal match against Great Britain’s Eve Muirhead.

Also today, Canada’s Brad Jacobs will meet China in a men’s semifinal.

Jones has been having the time of her life through this Olympics and on the eve of the biggest game of her curling career, she was all smiles and had difficulty containing her anticipation for the next moment.

“We’re playing great. We came to the biggest stage for sport and we’ve played our best and as an athlete, you can’t really ask anything more than that,” said Jones, who grew up in Winnipeg curling out of the St. Vital Curling Club. “But now we start from scratch, and all these teams are great teams so we can’t take anything for granted. We’ve put ourselves in this position and I’m really proud of that.”

Gold is the target but Jones said she and her teammates, Winnipeggers Jill Officer, Dawn McEwen and Kaitlyn Lawes were prepared for whatever comes their way today.

“Everyone came here to win gold and we were no exception. You can’t control results but you can control what you do,” she said. “If we go out there and play our best, that’s all we can do. If we don’t win, that would be disappointing but not as disappointing as not playing our best would be. Yes, we want to be at the top of the podium.

‘Great perspective’

“I’ve always thought we had great perspective on curling. We’ve handled losses better than any team I’ve ever seen. It’s just part of the game, and if you couldn’t lose on any given day then why play? That’s the excitement of sport.”

Jones has been relaxed all week and hasn’t let the enormity of the stage get to her. She’s shown no sign of nerves and has consistently been full of joy. She was asked if becoming a parent had played a role in softening her attitude.

“I know at the end of the day (Isabella’s) there waiting for me. I got these pictures sent to me by my girlfriend the other day and she’s in her little Canada outfit and she’s waving these flags and there’s a sign saying ‘go Mommy go.’ It just melts me and it makes me so happy,” said Jones. “This is just a game. It’s something I love to do and hopefully one day it will be something she’ll look up to and feel great that this is something her mom did.”

Winnipeg’s Ryan Fry plays third for Jacobs on Team Canada and is on the verge of entering a rare place in Manitoba curling.

“I’m a Canadian. My goal was to curl for Canada in some way, shape or form, so the teams in the provinces I played with didn’t matter to me,” said Fry, who has curled for Manitoba, Newfoundland and Northern Ontario in his career. “It was just a matter of getting the correct group of guys together that I felt that I fit with. I was prepared to do what I had to to find those guys, and I’m just lucky it ended up coming to fruition.”

Fry grew up in the house of Manitoba curling legend and Brier winner Barry Fry, whose 1979 team was inducted into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

“I probably threw my first rock at the Granite Club when I was six. I’ve definitely had my ups and downs, but I know the guy that I am now, the player and teammate that I’ve turned into,” said the 36-year-old Ryan Fry. “It’s definitely a learning process over the course of 10 to 15 years that I’ve been competing, but that’s what growing up in sports is all about. It’s finding the flaws in yourself and being able to bring a better version every season and every year. And hopefully that version helps the team. It’s starting to pay off.”

Fry said being in the Olympics and winning a medal wasn’t the dream he grew up with but it all lines up with how he’s built.

“I love competition in any shape or form. I love the opening tournament of the year. I love playing in the provincials, the Briers and now the Olympics,” he said. “It’s competing and it’s something I wanted to do. I grew up wanting to be a curler. I didn’t dream of winning an Olympic medal, but I wanted to be the best in the world. So we have an opportunity to do that here in the next few days.”

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless