Curling - Team Canada

Canada are the defending champions in mixed doubles after Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris won the inaugural gold medal in the new Olympic discipline. The team went 6-2 in PyeongChang, defeating Norway 8-4 in the semifinal (following a 9-6 round-robin loss) and Switzerland 10-3 in the final. Lawes, who also won women’s team gold with skip Jennifer Jones at Sochi 2014, returns with Jones in Beijing.

At world championships, Canada’s vast success in the traditional four-player team disciplines has not translated to mixed doubles. They have won only four medals in 12 attempts, two silvers (2017, 2019) and two bronze (2008, 2018).

Canada lags behind other countries in embracing the mixed doubles discipline. The largest curling nation – estimated to house over 80% of the world’s curling facilities and players – does not offer mixed doubles league or bonspiel opportunities in the majority of their 950 curling clubs.

Homan/Morris reached Beijing 2022 after the Canadian Olympic Trials, scheduled for early January, were cancelled due to Covid-19. Curling Canada used a new “weighted ranking system” to nominate the pair – currently ranked 15th in the world and fifth in Canada.

Homan/Morris have been an accomplished pairing since 2015, despite only competing in one Canadian championship – due to each athlete’s four-player team schedule and two recent pregnancies for Homan. They went 9-1 at the 2017 National Championship and lost the final. Overall they have a career record of 45-4, mostly against domestic opposition, and are 8-0 this season, having dominated the only World Curling Tour event they entered.

The pair, who became family friends in Ottawa when Morris was 11 and Homan was a toddler, have a 3-0 record against the Beijing field. Their points average in those matches is the highest in the field at 9.00, and they rank second in points against at 5.00 (Great Britain rank first with 4.71).

World Ranking: 1st (81.857 pts)

© Data by Sports Data Warehouse