Morris will face Australian team he coached to Olympic qualification after all

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This article was published 05/02/2022 (1672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEIJING – The teacher will in fact square off against his students in mixed doubles curling on Sunday evening at the Ice Cube.

Canada’s John Morris, who has coached the Australian duo of Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt, was scheduled to face them in round-robin play at the Beijing Games with partner Rachel Homan.

The matchup appeared to be off after the Australian Olympic Committee announced that Gill and Hewitt would be pulling out of the competition after Gill returned a series of positive COVID-19 tests on Saturday night.

However, after an urgent meeting of the Medical Expert Panel in Beijing, the team was given a late reprieve and allowed to play, the AOC said on its website Sunday afternoon.

Gill and Hewitt entered play Sunday with an 0-7 round-robin record. They were both on the ice for an afternoon game against Switzerland.

Morris walked over to their sheet before the game and bumped fists with Gill.

Gill and Hewitt relocated to Canmore, Alta., last September and trained there in preparation for the Games.

“He’s basically family to us,” Hewitt said. “He gave us this really nice card (last week) and he finished off the note saying, ‘Friend first. Coach second.'”

Morris, of course, had to put his coaching hat away when he and Homan were named Canadian mixed doubles representatives last month.

“That will probably be my toughest game mentally,” Morris said earlier in the week of the Australia matchup. “They are such good friends and such wonderful people.

“I like to play with a bit of an edge and I want to crush my opponent and it’s hard to want to crush them because they’re so nice.”

Gill and Hewitt first reached out to Morris after he won Olympic gold in mixed doubles at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games with Kaitlyn Lawes.

The families have history as Earle Morris — John’s father — previously coached Dean’s dad, Steve. The elder Hewitt finished seventh for Australia at the 1992 Albertville Games when curling was a demonstration sport.

Gill and Hewitt finished fourth at the 2019 world mixed doubles championship. Morris was on site last December at the Olympic qualification event in the Netherlands when the duo locked up a Beijing berth.

“They had a dream three years ago and they wanted to go to the Olympics,” Morris said. “It really is inspiring for athletes around the world to see.

“If you put the time in, you can make it to the Olympics.”

With Morris unavailable, Pete Manasantivongs served as Australian coach at this competition.

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Morris is trying to win his third career Olympic gold medal. He also won men’s team gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics on a team with skip Kevin Martin.

Canada (4-2) split its two matches on Saturday, losing 6-2 to Sweden before bouncing back to beat the United States 7-2.

“It was a battle. The Americans are really a great team, and they can make all the shots. So we had to give them all we had,” said Homan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2022.

Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.