Rachel Homan has that look back in her eyes.
The Canadian skipper — arguably the greatest female curler of all time — has gotten past all the distractions caused by the double-touch fiasco and has finally found her game that makes her the best in the world.
Heading into Monday, Homan’s playoff chances weren’t in her favour with a 1-3 record at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. But after two big wins against China and Japan, her team is back to .500 and is firmly in the mix to reach the semifinals.
The off day on Sunday was what Homan and her teammates, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes, needed to reset their minds and flush everything that had happened previously.
They talked things over, but also got to experience the Olympics and took some time with family and friends, including Miskew, who shared a photo from the “reset day” on her social media.
You could tell that was the case on-ice Monday, starting with the early game against China. The communication among the four of them improved, leading to a more positive attitude. They were picking each other up after each shot — not saying they weren’t good teammates before, but the struggles were affecting everyone, and they just didn’t have the same team vibe.
Homan made one of her signature shots in the fourth end to score four, and from there, the confidence started to grow within the team. It led to a 10-5 win.
The Canadians carried that momentum into their match against Japan. They started both games down 2-0, but it didn’t faze them. They trusted the ice more, believed in their gameplan and came through with another win.
There is still a long road ahead for Homan and her teammates to reach the ultimate goal of winning a gold medal. But Monday’s victories were the sign everyone needed to see, giving Canada the confidence that a podium isn’t out of reach.
Here are the full results from Monday.
Women’s results from Sunday, Feb 15. (Full scores and standings)
Draw 7
Sweden 6, Switzerland 4
Canada 10, China 5
Great Britain 7, Denmark 2
Draw 8
Italy 7, U.S. 2
South Korea 10, China 9
Switzerland 10, Great Britain 6
Canada 9, Japan 6
Men’s results from Sunday, Feb 15. (Full scores and standings)
Draw 8
Norway 7, Great Britain 6
Canada 8, Czechia 2
Germany 7, Sweden 3
China 11, Italy 4
Jacobs is taking care of business
Not only did Homan win twice on Thursday, but Team Brad Jacobs also picked up a clinical 8-2 victory over a winless Czechia, giving Canada a perfect 3-0 day between both the men’s and women’s teams.
With the win, Jacobs improves to 5-1 and is on pace to reach the semifinals.
For the Canadian rink, the most impressive part about its great start is that it hasn’t taken the ‘easy’ games off. It’s quite normal to see favourites play a safe game against non-formidable teams, which usually ends up getting them in trouble.
Jacobs hasn’t done that. Every shot of each game, the team is dialled into the match, making sure no upsets can happen, and it has helped lead to its success.
While the easiest part of Canada’s schedule is over with games upcoming against Great Britain, Italy and Norway, others have struggled and are in jeopardy of making the playoffs.
Tough Olympics for World No. 1’s
Speaking of teams that haven’t taken care of business, Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat is among them.
The World No. 1 came into the Olympics as the favourite to win men’s gold, even with the competition being the best it’s ever been. Mouat has just been that good all season.
By all accounts, the tournament started exactly the way you’d expect for him. Two dominant wins, followed by a tight but understandable loss against a good Italian team.
Mouat’s second loss didn’t come until he was 4-1 in yet another close battle against Switzerland — which is killing everyone right now — where Great Britain lost 6-5.
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Men’s Olympic curling standings, schedule, results
Team Brad Jacobs will aim to get Canada back on top of the Olympic podium for men’s curling for the first time since 2014 this month in Italy. Follow all the action with Sportsnet.
But the Brits’ loss against Norway on Monday was a stunner. Mouat had his team out curl the Norwegians 88-86 per cent, but it was a costly steal of two in the eighth end that eventually cost Mouat the win.
We all know that until Monday, it was a struggle for the other World No. 1, Homan, as well, but now both are battling for their playoff lives.
It just goes to prove the Olympics are another beast.
Curling is gaining eyeballs
Although World Curling may have made a mess of this whole double-touch rule situation, the entire story has put a wider spotlight on the sport, exposing it to a bigger audience.
For two days in a row, multiple curling questions have been asked at the IOC’s daily press conference, which is often dominated by political discussion and/or wider Games issues.
Associated Press reporter Graham Dunbar noted in his question to the IOC at the press conference that a curling story was one of the top three most popular global news stories on the AP app over the weekend.
Mark Adams, IOC spokesman, says curling tends to become popular at the Olympics.
“What is always interesting, particularly about curling, is it’s one of those slow burners. We have it every Games around the world, its popularity always explodes during the Games,” Adams said at the IOC press conference.
“That’s a great thing, right, for any sport to get that kind of exposure, particularly amongst audiences and countries that don’t generally have them.”
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Women’s Olympic curling standings, schedule, results
Team Rachel Homan will try to get Canada back on the Olympic podium for the first time since 2014 this month in Italy. Follow all the action with Sportsnet.
Adams added that the Winter Games don’t happen in every country and that some people are seeing the sport for the first time.
“They don’t see them on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and they get addicted to them and sometimes start playing them. Great for the sport.”
He’s not wrong, but usually the popularity of curling gains at the Olympics loses all its steam just a couple of months later.
That might not be the case this year with The Curling Group’s CEO, Nic Sulsky, launching the first-ever professional curling league, better known as Rock League.
The league is set for its first season April 6-12 in Toronto at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, but has already announced more venues for the 2027 season.
So, there really isn’t a better time for this whole thing to be happening.
Olympic curling continues Tuesday, starting at 3:05 a.m. ET / 12:05 a.m. PT. Homan will face Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg at 8:05 a.m. ET/ 5:05 a.m. PT, while Jacobs will face Mouat at 1:05 p.m. ET / 10:05 a.m. PT.
