Canada’s quest to retain their Olympic mixed doubles gold was dashed by the barest of margins on Monday, as John Morris and Rachel Homan fell 8-7 to undefeated Italian pair Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner at the National Aquatics Centre.
The Canadians needed a victory to leapfrog Sweden into fourth place and secure a semi-final spot but lost the close measure in the extra end as Homan’s throw was slightly over-swept by Morris and rolled a few millimetres too far.
“It’s probably the toughest loss I’ve ever had,” Morris said. “With one half a break or one millimetre here or there and we’re playing the semifinals, so there’s no point beating a dead horse … The bottom line is we’re so proud to represent Canada.
“And it was such an honour to wear the maple leaf. We did it with all our hearts… Sure at least Rachel will be back again. I’m not sure about myself, but the tank is almost empty.”
Morris won the inaugural mixed doubles gold with Kaitlyn Lawes in 2018 and it was Canada’s only curling medal in Pyeongchang as both the men’s and women’s teams failed to get on the podium for the first time.
“I got nothing but faith in our men’s and women’s curling team,” Morris added. “We got two wonderful representatives that are going to make us proud. We’re just sorry that we couldn’t do it in the mixed doubles.”
The result relegated Canada to fifth place and means Sweden, who lost 12-8 to Italy on Sunday night, will take on Constantini and Mosaner again later on Monday in the semi-finals, with Britain playing Norway in the other tie.
“Getting into the semifinal in the Olympics was exactly what we’ve dreamed of for a long time,” said Britain’s Bruce Mouat, who will team up with Jennifer Dodds in the mixed event before skipping his rink in the men’s competition from Wednesday.
“I’m quite lucky that I’m going from sweeping a lot to get to stand still and just tell people what to do. That should be fun for me. I don’t think I’ll be tired anyway. Your adrenaline is going to be high no matter what.
“I’m just really excited that I have two chances to compete at the Olympic Games in one visit.”
(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
