London Free Press – Other Sports – Gold or bust for curlers
Mon, January 9, 2006
By JIM BENDER, SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS
Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue and Alberta’s Shannon Kleibrink had no sooner won their respective Canadian Olympic curling trials finals in Halifax when they readily acknowledged the pressure that will be on their squads to win gold medals at the Olympics in Pinerolo, Italy, Feb. 13-24.
Anything less will be unacceptable.
“Our goal for a long time and our dream is to win an Olympic gold medal, so we’re going to be gunning hard for it,” said a determined Gushue, 25.
But that was easier said than will be done.
“Sometimes what some Canadians don’t realize is how good some of these other countries are,” Gushue cautioned. “You look at hockey and Russia and Finland and Sweden are all great teams. In curling, Sweden and Switzerland and teams like that are definitely are at (Canada’s) calibre. They don’t have the depth that Canada has, but they do have some tough teams.
“So, I like our chances but we’re going to have to play good. We’re not going to win just by showing up, that’s for sure.”
Kleibrink, 37, echoed those sentiments.
“If you’re from Canada and it’s hockey or curling, you have to come home with that shiny medal, right?” she said. “But it seems like every single one of those Olympic teams have played in Canada over the last five years and they’re catching up to us. But we’re doing everything we can to prepare.”
The teams that present the main threats to Gushue to bring home Canada’s first gold in men’s curling are Norway’s Olympic gold medallist Pal Trulsen, Sweden’s Peja Lindholm and Switzerland’s Ralph Stockli.
Ontario’s Mike Harris won Olympic silver in 1998, but that paled in comparison to the gold won by Sask-atchewan’s legendary Sandra Schmirler that year. Alberta’s Kevin Martin won silver in 2002, but was vilified for barely missing his last shot, which meant the difference between gold and silver. So, that just adds to the pressure the young Olympian will face on Italian pebble.
“Just the fact that you’re going to represent your country is pretty special,” said Gushue, supported by third Mark Nichols, second Russ Howard (who calls the shots) and Jamie Korab. “We knew whomever (won the Olympic trials) is going to go there as a favourite, or one of the favourites. We’ve played a lot of the teams that are going to be there before and have had some success. If we keep playing the way we’re playing, I like our chances.”
Kleibrink, supported by third Amy Nixon, second Glenys Bakker and Christine Keshen, has also fared well against most of her Olympic opponents “on Canadian ice.”
“If we can get back to the way we played at the end of the week in Halifax, we should be OK,” said Kleibrink, who overcame a 1-3 start in Nova Scotia.
The main threats for Kleibrink include Sweden’s reigning world champion Anette Norberg and Great Britain’s Olympic gold-medallist Rhona Martin.
Gushue just finished competing in the BDO Classic Open in Winnipeg and will also play in the Canada Cup in Kamloops, B.C. at the end of January.
Kleibrink beat Olympic-bound Cassie Johnson of the U.S. 11-4 in an exhibition game during the BDO Classic Open semifinals and will compete at a cashspiel in Bern, Switzerland this month. Her foursome will also play in the Canada Cup.
Then it’s gold or bust for both in Italy.
Copyright © 2005, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
You must log in to post a comment.
{ 2 trackbacks }