It’s an Olympic experiment for Canada
With files from Curling Canada
Canada’s grand curling experiment—an Olympic Trials competition held more than a year in advance of an Olympic Games—is set to begin.
Curling Canada today announced the final field of 16 teams that will do battle over the holidays—Dec. 30, 2024 to Jan. 4, 2025—at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials, hosted at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S.
It's the first of three high-powered Olympic qualifying tournaments that were announced for the Bluenose province last year, which includes the four-player Olympic Trials at Halifax next December.
The winning duo in Liverpool will have the Olympic berth for Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy in February of 2026—but they will also be expected to book Canada’s place in those games, at the World Mixed Doubles Championship in Fredericton, N.B., running April 26 to May 3, 2025.
Ten mixed doubles teams will compete at the Milano-Cortina Olympics.
The final eight teams were confirmed following the last trials direct-entry qualifying event held in Banff and Canmore, Alta. over the weekend. The top eight teams on the Canadian Mixed Doubles (CMDR) as of Dec. 9 who had not yet qualified earned their spots.
They join eight teams who previously secured berths through the 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship, the 2023-24 CMDR standings, or at one of three direct-entry qualifying events held recently.
Here are the 16 teams in contention in Liverpool:
Kadriana Lott/Colton Lott (Gimli, Man.) – 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship gold medallists
Laura Walker/Kirk Muyres (Edmonton/Humboldt, Sask.) – 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship silver medallists
Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant (Chestermere, Alta.) – 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship bronze medallists
Nancy Martin/Steve Laycock (Wakaw, Sask./Saskatoon) – 2023-24 CMDR
Jennifer Jones/Brent Laing (Barrie, Ont.) – 2023-24 CMDR
Brittany Tran/Rylan Kleiter (Calgary/Saskatoon) – Canadian Mixed Doubles Qualifier (Maple Ridge)
Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher (Beaumont, Alta./Spruce Grove, Alta.) – Canadian Mixed Doubles Qualifier (Guelph)
Riley Sandham/Brendan Craig (Guelph, Ont.) – 2025 Trials CMDR
Taylor Reese-Hansen/Corey Chester (Kitimat, B.C./Victoria) – 2025 Trials CMDR
Anne-Sophie Gionest/Robert Desjardins (Alma, Que./Saguenay, Que.) – 2025 Trials CMDR
Jennifer Armstrong/Tyrel Griffith (Rothesay, N.B./Kelowna, B.C.) – Canadian Mixed Doubles Qualifier (Banff)
Melissa Adams/Alex Robichaud (Fredericton, N.B.) – 2025 Trials CMDR
Jessica Zheng/Victor Pietrangelo (Niagara Falls, Ont.) – 2025 Trials CMDR
Lisa Weagle/John Epping (Ottawa/Toronto) – 2025 Trials CMDR
Paige Papley/Evan Van Amsterdam (Edmonton) – 2025 Trials CMDR
Jaelyn Cotter/Jim Cotter (Vernon, B.C.) – 2025 Trials CMDR
The 16 teams will be divided into two pools of eight for a round robin running through Jan. 1. The top three teams from each pool advance to a six-team playoff.
Playoff action begins on Jan. 2, with the top two teams from each pool crossing over to compete for a direct spot in the Page 1 vs 2 game. The losers drop down to play the third-placed teams in each pool for the spots in the Page 3 vs 4 game. From there, the winner of the Page 1/2 game advances to the final, while the loser will play the winner of the Page 3/4 game in the semifinal.
The semifinal winner moves on to the gold-medal match on Jan. 4, where the Trials champion will be crowned.
The championship will be streamed on the Curling Canada YouTube channel.