Eight years after becoming the first and only women’s curling team to win Olympic curling gold with an undefeated record, Jennifer Jones and her Manitoba foursome return to the Olympics looking to get Canada back on top of the podium.
In 2014, Jones carried the team to a perfect 11-0 record, winning Canada’s second gold medal in women’s curling. Sandra Schmirler’s rink from Saskatchewan captured Canada’s first women’s Olympic curling championship in 1998.
But a lot has changed in the women’s game over the years, specifically in the last two quadrennials — the real shift was realized during the last Games in South Korea, when Canada’s Team Homan failed to reach the playoffs. It marked the first time that’s happened at the Olympics in Canadian curling history.
Jones, right, celebrates a perfect 11-0 run with her team en route to a gold medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
What was seemingly an inevitable medal for Canada in curling at the Games, is no longer a guarantee.
But Jones, who at 47 is the oldest athlete on Team Canada, says she’s feeling the best she has in her career, and is prepared to stare down the challenge in front of her.
The lineup looks a little different from 2014. Jill Officer was the second for the team, but she has since retired and replaced by Jocelyn Peterman. Lisa Weagle, who was part of Homan’s team at the last Games, is on Jones’ team as the alternate. Dawn McEwen was the lead for Jones at the Sochi Games and makes her return to the Olympics.
WATCH | Jones leads her team into Beijing:
Meet the team: Jennifer Jones
1 month ago
Duration 1:47
After curling together for so many years and heading back to yet another Olympics, Jennifer Jones, Kaitlyn Lawes, Jocelyn Peterman and Dawn McEwen are much more than teammates. They’re family. 1:47
And don’t forget about third Kaitlyn Lawes, who is looking to make history. No other curler has ever won three consecutive Olympic gold medals. The 33-year-old from Winnipeg won gold in 2014 and followed that up with gold in mixed doubles at the Pyeongchang Games. Now Lawes looks to complete the golden curling hat trick.
Experience in these pressure-packed moments will be an added advantage for Jones and her team. They’ll have to lean on it throughout the event.
Team Jones third Kaitlyn Lawes, seen here at the 2021 Canadian Olympic curling trials in November, will be gunning for a record three consecutive gold medals in Beijing. (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press)
Deepest women’s Olympic curling field ever
Nine other countries from around the world are part of the women’s event.
Joining Canada in the event are Great Britain, USA, South Korea, China, ROC, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland and defending Olympic champions from Sweden. There has never been a women’s Olympic curling field this deep.
Anna Hasselborg is looking to become the second women’s team at the Olympics to win back-to-back titles. Annette Norbeg, who is also from Sweden, completed the feat at the 2006 and 2010 Games.
Then there’s Silvana Tirinzoni from Switzerland, who is coming off back-to-back women’s world curling championships.
South Korea is the defending Olympic silver medallists. Never count out Great Britain’s Eve Muirhead, who is set to make her fourth Olympic curling appearance.
Great Britain’s skip Eve Muirhead, seen here at the Women’s World Curling Championship in May, is making her fourth appearance at the Olympics and is one of many in a deep women’s field that could put a dent in Canada’s medal hopes. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
USA’s Tabitha Peterson should be brimming with confidence coming into these Winter Olympics, having won bronze at last year’s women’s world curling championships. It was only the second time in the country’s history they’ve won a medal at worlds.
Each game throughout the round robin will carry massive significance. Only the top-four teams advance to the semifinals. After that, the two winning teams in that semifinal match advance to to the gold medal game.
Jones is in tough to begin the Olympics.
WATCH | Team Jones a tight-knit group heading into Olympics:
Teamwork made the dream work for Team Jones on their way to Beijing
13 days ago
Duration 2:09
The sisterhood that skip Jennifer Jones and her team have created have helped them grow and achieve the goal of making it to the Olympics with another curling medal in mind. 2:09
The first four games are against arguably some of the best teams in the field. Canada starts competition by having a bye in the first draw. Their first four games in this order are South Korea, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland — that’s the defending Olympic silver medallists, followed by the defending Olympic bronze medallists.
After that Jones plays the two-time defending world champions from Switzerland and then immediately plays the defending Olympic champions from Sweden.
Jones has won everything there is to win in curling. She’s a six-time Scotties champion. She’s a two-time world champion. And Jones is an Olympic champion. Now she prepares to take on the world again looking to further cement herself as one of the greatest curlers ever to play the game.
Canada’s first game is Thursday evening in Beijing against South Korea.
WATCH | Jones inspiring her young daughters:
‘My girls feel like little celebrities’: Jennifer Jones on the impact the Olympics is having on her young daughters
27 days ago
Duration 4:33
The Team Canada skip fills fans in on how she’s preparing for the Beijing Olympics and whether or not she’ll let her young daughters stay up to watch her games. 4:33
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have loaned midfielder Jay Herdman to Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League and rewarded two Whitecaps FC 2 players with MLS contracts.
Midfielder Jeevan Badwal signed as a homegrown player through 2027, with options for 2028 and 2029, while forward Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau signed an MLS contract through 2025, with club options for 2026 and 2027.
Both have been playing for the Whitecaps’ MLS Next Pro team along with the 20-year-old Herdman, the son of Toronto FC coach John Herdman.
The moves were made before Friday’s MLS and CPL roster freeze.
Born in New Zealand while his father was working for the New Zealand Football Federation, Jay Herdman was also part of the New Zealand soccer team at the Paris Olympics with three appearances including two starts. Herdman’s loan deal runs through the end of the CPL season.
“Jay is an important signing for us, who will provide another attacking option for the run-in,” Cavalry coach and GM Tommy Wheeldon Jr. said in a statement. “He’s a player that we’ve been tracking since we played against Whitecaps in pre-season and he has very good quality, with terrific energy and the ability to contribute to goals.
“With the recent injury to Mael Henry, Jay’s positional profile and age helps us with on-field options and minutes that count towards the league’s required 2,000 U-21 domestic minutes during the regular season.”
Badwal, an 18-year-old from suburban Surrey, is the 26th academy player to sign an MLS contract with the Whitecaps.
“Having joined our academy in 2019, Jeevan continues to progress through our club and takes every challenge in stride,” Whitecaps FC sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement. “He is comfortable on the ball, positionally sound, and does the simple things very well. We are excited for Jeevan to make the next step in his young career.”
Badwal has made 19 appearances with Whitecaps 2 this season, scoring two goals and adding three assists. A Canadian youth international, he started all three matches for Canada at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup
Badwal made his first-team debut off the bench in the first leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal against Pacific FC.
Chateau was originally selected 74th overall by the Whitecaps in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft after spending two years at St. John’s University.
The 22-year-old from Ottawa signed an MLS NEXT Pro contract with Whitecaps FC 2 in March. He leads Whitecaps FC 2 in goal-scoring this season with eight goals across 21 appearances (including eight starts).
“Nicolas leads MLS NEXT Pro in shots on target, has a very strong work rate and willpower. We are looking forward to seeing his growth as he builds on his young professional career,” said Schuster.
Chateau made his first-team debut as a second-half substitute at CF Montreal on July 6.
Herdman, who joined the Whitecaps academy as a 13-year-old, has made 19 appearances for Whitecaps FC 2 in 2024, scoring six goals and adding three assists. He made his MLS debut in April as a second-half substitute in a 2-0 victory at the Seattle Sounders.
Internationally, Herdman has represented New Zealand 29 times across the U-19, U-20, and U-23 sides. He was part of New Zealand’s squad at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, starting three matches at the tournament and scoring against Uzbekistan.
The Whitecaps host San Jose on Saturday while Cavalry entertains Atletico Ottawa on Sunday.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024
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