Powerhouse teams skipped by Homan and Jacobs lock up Olympic spots by winning trials

HALIFAX – Two powerhouse curling teams emerged from a tweaked playdowns format designed to send Canada’s best possible representatives to the Milan-Cortina Olympics. 

Call it mission accomplished for Curling Canada.

Rachel Homan skipped her Ottawa team to the women’s title and Brad Jacobs guided his Calgary rink to the men’s crown at the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials over the weekend.

“At the end of the day, I think that’s our two hardest-working, most dedicated teams,” Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen said Sunday. “And it showed.”

Both finals were 2-0 sweeps in the new best-of-three final format.

Homan, vice Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes edged hometown favourite Christina Black 5-4 in Game 1 before rolling to a 12-3 rout on Saturday. 

In a matchup of the top two teams in the Canadian men’s rankings, Jacobs and vice Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert posted two close victories over Matt Dunstone’s Winnipeg side. Jacobs earned a 9-8 win in Game 1 and a 6-5 victory in Game 2. 

“I think it accomplished what we wanted it to accomplish,” Thiessen said. “It was a really good change for us.”

The setup used for previous Trials finals had more tension given the unpredictable nature of a single-game elimination matchup, particularly if ice conditions — as they were at times over the week at Scotiabank Centre — were inconsistent.

Black was the surprise of the competition, needing other results to swing her way on cut-down day before squeaking into the three-team women’s playoffs. Once there, the 21st-ranked side upset second-ranked Kerri Einarson in the semifinal and was a few inches away from stunning Homan in Game 1. 

Homan’s foursome — ranked first in the world — is loaded with big-game experience and it showed in Game 2. The skip is a five-time national champion, three-time world champion and is now going to the Winter Games for a third straight time.

Miskew played third on Homan’s team that competed at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Homan returned to the 2022 Beijing Games in mixed doubles with John Morris but again missed the podium.

“You dream of going back and until you get in that moment where you can say that you’re going, you don’t believe it’s actually going to happen,” Miskew said. “So the fact that we’re going back to the Olympics is pretty crazy. We’re really excited.”

Fleury, who lost in an extra end to Jennifer Jones in the 2021 Trials final, and Wilkes are first-time Olympians.

Jacobs won Olympic gold in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, with a different team. Kennedy and Hebert won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics on a team skipped by Kevin Martin.

Kennedy and Hebert returned to the Games in 2018 with skip Kevin Koe. Gallant earned Olympic bronze in 2022 on a team skipped by Brad Gushue. 

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This is the first quadrennial that Curling Canada has allowed athletes to compete in both team and mixed doubles disciplines at the Games. Gallant booked his mixed doubles berth with Jocelyn Peterman last season. 

“It’s been a lot of hard work over the years to get to achieve some of these goals,” Gallant said. “So to see some of it pay off, it’s an amazing feeling. 

“I’m really looking forward to doing double duty over there.”

Competition begins Feb. 4 at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2025.