Canada eliminated from 2026 Olympic mixed doubles curling playoffs

Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

Jocelyn Peterman of Team Canada competes with Brett Gallant of Team Canada during the Mixed doubles round-robin match on Sunday at the 2026 Olympics. Photo by Richard Heathcote /Getty ImagesArticle contentLike good Canadians, Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant fought for their sporting lives Sunday at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

And like good Canadians, they took it hard the moment they knew they’d lost all chances to medal in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Emotions flooded Canada’s curling couple in realizing their dreams of a podium finish were done.

Yeah … this one hurts.

Especially since they didn’t even advance to playoffs in what was billed as a redemption mission for them after falling shy of winning gold in the 2019 World Mixed Curling Championships — that was a heartbreaking silver — and failing to even medal at the 2022 worlds.

But it just wasn’t in the cards at the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium.

Peterman and Gallant came into Sunday with their medal hopes still alive but jeopardized.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Advertisement 1 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() { const template = document.getElementById('oop-ad-template'); if (template && !template.dataset.adInjected) { const clone = template.content.cloneNode(true); template.replaceWith(clone); if (template.parentElement) { template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected = "true"; } } });Article contentWe apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentWe apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team. Back to video Article contentAfter a loss in the first game — a 7-6 heart-breaker to Sweden’s Isabella Wranå and Rasmus Wranå — those hopes fell even further.

They needed to take down the two-win South Korean pair of Kim Seon-yeong and Jeong Yeong-seok later Sunday.

And that didn’t happen either.

Straight ice, to which they couldn’t adjust after scoring the three early wins, proved to be Canada’s undoing.

That struggle was especially noticeable in trying to execute clutch shots, which is usually a strength for the married couple from Chestermere, Alta.

As a curling nation, we believe it’s our right to stand atop every podium the sport offers on the world stage.

Even in the newer iterations of the game, such as the mixed-doubles model.

But it’s not always going to go our way.

Jocelyn Peterman of Team Canada competes with Brett Gallant.Getty Images Photo by Richard Heathcote /Getty ImagesArticle contentNot with so many other countries taking it upon themselves to embrace the discipline and study it from all angles just the same as us.

In mixed doubles, all it takes is two dedicated people from a region — one male and one female — to give it a real go on the world stage.

Even Estonia, despite not having much of an effort in team curling, can do that in the mixed offering — and Kaldvee and Harri Lill have done just that in contributing to the struggles/downfall of Peterman and Gallant.

It just hurts that much more for Canada and the curlers themselves when a free-fall of four or five losses follows such a brilliant start out of the gate.

It’s hard to forget the fact the Albertans powered their way to a 3-0 start, which included domination over the defending Olympic champions in Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner and a similar performance over double-Olympic medallists Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten of Norway.

At that time, the future looked bright in Cortina — as in gold-medal bright for Peterman and Gallant.

Then came a sharpening of stones and ice that just didn’t cooperate with the Canadians’ game, despite the fact the Games’ deputy chief ice technician, Greg Ewasko, is a Canadian staple in the ice-making trade.

The couple just couldn’t adjust, leading to five straight drops and a significant loss in confidence along the way.

Try as they might — and they fought tooth and nail in every game — these Games just somehow fizzled for Peterman and Gallant.

The good news is their shortcoming can only help the curlers in front of them at Cortina.

Gallant, of course, is part of Canada’s men’s team skipped by Brad Jacobs. They start their quest for gold as one of the strong contenders on Wednesday.

And then there’s Rachel Homan and the Canadian women hitting the pebbled ice on Thursday.

Information will be passed their way by Peterman and Gallant — stuff they hope can help them with the straight ice and the rocks to (hopefully) put Canada on the podium.

And at that, hopes are that info can lift our teams to the top step of the podium and get Canada feeling good about our curling domination again.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM

Fable, GAP and On, to name a few

Unique Valentine’s Day gift ideas that aren’t chocolate or flowers Unique gifts for those you love

Top carpet cleaners that can handle tough messes Whether you have kids or pets, find options for every use and budget

Advertisement 1Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}}); Is your kid sick? What to look out for according to an ER doctor Plus helpful products to have on hand

These are the best Amazon Canada deals of the week: Home, tech and more Take advantage of these Amazon Canada deals before they're gone

This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You can manage saved articles in your account.

and save up to 100 articles!

You can manage your saved articles in your account and clicking the X located at the bottom right of the article.

Canada eliminated from 2026 Olympic mixed doubles curling playoffs

Comments