Saskatchewan mixed doubles curler passed over for Olympic spot

Nancy Martin found out on Christmas Day she wouldn’t be able to play her way into the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The Saskatoon curler was in the middle of some family time when she received an email that the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials in Portage la Prairie, Man. had been cancelled due to positive COVID-19 results among the teams.

It was Martin’s shot for both herself and Kelowna, B.C.’s Tyrel Griffith — Canada’s third-ranked team in the sport, according to the latest Curling Canada rankings — to win their way in.

“I honestly just broke down in tears. We had worked so hard for this and we had isolated from our families. We had cancelled Christmas and we were ready — and healthy. (We were) prepared for this (which) for us (was) an event of a lifetime,” she told 650 CKOM.

The cancellation, Martin said, was because other teams playing in an event the week before were exposed to COVID. Curling Canada confirmed positive tests came back for players in its initial release, cancelling the event.

“For most of us who were isolating, it was heartbreaking,” Martin said.

She added she was comfortable with the plans to play from Curling Canada, which included two COVID tests — both rapid and PCR — upon arrival. They’d then head into isolation, only leaving to curl.

“We felt very safe with the plan. We’re just shocked and completely gutted by the decision,” Martin said.

After the announcement, Curling Canada’s high-performance staff said it would consult with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium to decide “the best process to nominate a Canadian mixed doubles team that will compete in China.”

On Thursday, that team was named: The fifth-ranked twosome of Rachel Homan and John Morris.

Ranked first were Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, who declined a Trials spot after both secured berths in the Olympics with wins by Team Jennifer Jones and Team Brad Gushue.

The second-ranked team features Jones and Brent Laing — Jones’ husband and the lead of Team John Epping.

One would think that would spell an immediate berth for Martin and Griffith, but upon hearing the news that Homan and Morris were selected, Martin had some thoughts.

“We weren’t surprised,” she said. “There’s some work to be done with mixed doubles and how it’s handled. And one thing we discovered during this process is there is no athlete rep to help speak for the athletes in Curling Canada.”

“After cancelling the Trials, we engaged in extensive consultation with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium and it became increasingly apparent that the nomination criteria for selecting athletes should put a premium on experience on the world championship and Olympic stage, as well as experience and success playing together in mixed doubles,” Curling Canada CEO Katherine Henderson said in a release.

“We are blessed with an amazing pool of mixed doubles players, and I feel nothing but compassion for the curlers who were to compete in the Trials and had that opportunity taken from them by the pandemic. But we are confident that Rachel and John will make Canada proud in Beijing.”

Mixed doubles is still considered a new sport. The 2022 Games represent its second Olympic cycle as a competition.

Martin said “the goalposts changed” throughout the year because of the pandemic.

“Initially, we could count 10 events towards our points, then we could count only seven because of the pandemic, so the weight shifted to those teams that are elite and play men’s and women’s … We just knew we had to work harder and dig deeper,” she said.

Martin said each time the rules changed, she and Griffith just kept digging deeper and played more, preparing for the first game of the Trials.

“It was so heartbreaking to not have had that event happen,” she said.

Martin said she has been speaking to other teams that also have the same concerns surrounding Curling Canada’s decision-making with mixed doubles.

“We are going to try to stand up and try to put together some kind of athletes’ association that focuses on the needs and prioritizes mixed doubles,” she said.

“We’re seeing (the sport) grow. We’re excited for the future of the sport and this highlighting of it right now is giving us an opportunity to maybe do some work that needs to be done (to) get these next (generation) players in, and build the sport the way it should be built instead of the focus still being on the men and women — and who’s famous.”