Homan, Morris selected to represent Canada in mixed doubles curling at Beijing Olympics

Devin Heroux · CBC Sports

· Posted: Jan 13, 2022 10:03 AM EST | Last Updated: January 13, 2022

A waiting crippled galore curlers and curling fans alike crossed Canada person been wanting to beryllium over, has yet ended.

Thursday morning, Curling Canada, with the assistance of Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, announced Rachel Homan and John Morris arsenic the mixed doubles squad for Canada competing astatine the Beijing Olympics. The enactment process became indispensable erstwhile past month's Olympic trials successful Manitoba were cancelled due to the fact that of the menace of COVID-19.

Homan, who skipped her four-person squad astatine the Olympics successful Pyeongchang 4 years ago, says portion it's not the mode anyone wanted this determination to beryllium made, she's elated astatine the accidental to correspond Canada again astatine the Games.

"It's the telephone telephone everyone dreams of. You effort and hole your full beingness for this infinitesimal and that's what John and I person done," she told CBC Sports.

"We consciousness similar we're successful a truly large spot. We're excited to enactment the Maple Leaf connected and privation to perceive a batch of cheers from everyone backmost home. We're going to bash everything we tin and enactment everything we person into each crippled implicit there."

THAT CURLING SHOW | Morris, Homan to correspond Canada successful mixed doubles: 

Morris is heading to his 3rd Olympics, having already won golden doubly antecedently astatine the Games, astatine the 2010 Vancouver Games and an historical archetypal mixed doubles rubric with Kaitlyn Lawes successful South Korea.

The 43-year-old from Ottawa is eyeing a aureate curling Olympic chapeau trick.

"I deliberation we person an awesome dynamic that goes backmost a agelong way. It would beryllium peculiar to bring much hardware backmost home," helium said.

"We person an outstanding team. Although it's a antithetic Olympics implicit successful China successful the mediate of a pandemic, we deliberation it's going to beryllium awesome. We're hoping Canadians are going to acceptable their alarm clocks and bask this travel with us."

Avoiding a affirmative COVID-19 trial and staying mentally steadfast are the apical priorities of the squad close now.

"We had to necktie up immoderate household worldly to marque definite everything was bully connected the homefront. Johnny and I some person small ones, but we person specified supportive household and friends," Homan said.

"Making definite we're sticking unneurotic and keeping our bubble truly tight. We conscionable privation to marque definite we're mentally 100 per cent there. We're going to request each the enactment we tin get to beryllium astatine our best."

'Just get 'er done'

Morris says helium has nary concerns astir the abbreviated runway from present until the archetypal crippled astatine the Olympics, little than 3 weeks away.

"I emotion a grooming campy that's similar a week oregon two. Very concentrated. Just get 'er done," Morris said.

"Totally focused connected training. Getting into a bully spot mentally. Working connected things. We're ever trying to get better."

But the announcement is not without statement and controversy.

For astir 2 weeks curlers, fans and sports journalists person been weighing successful connected what squad was going to beryllium selected and however the determination was going to beryllium made.

WATCH | Wayne, Kim Tuck privation Curling Canada to marque squad decision:

In the end, Curling Canada utilized what they're calling a "weighted ranking system" — using 3 applicable factors to fertile the remaining eligible teams for information purposes.

Those 3 factors included:

• Final CMDR standings for the 2022 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials.
• International competitory acquisition astatine the Olympic Games and World Curling Championships.
• Combined win/loss percentages of idiosyncratic players successful mixed doubles games during the trials qualifying play (March 15, 2019 to December 14, 2021).

Through this process Homan and Morris got the nod. 

"It's not however you'd ever similar to constitute it up. I deliberation each rival wanted to person a accidental to triumph and compete, so that was unfortunate," Morris said.

"This isn't however you gully it up but whenever you person the accidental to enactment that maple leafage connected and spell to the Olympics and correspond your country, you're getting called to work and it's 1 of the champion calls successful the world. It's an honour and a privilege."

Homan says contempt the tiny timeframe to hole for the Olympics, she's assured her and Morris volition beryllium acceptable for competition.

"We some person tremendous respect for each other. Both of america cognize the pressure. We've been determination earlier and astatine antithetic levels we've succeeded and person travel up short. We're taking each of our experiences into this," she said.

Morris says their enslaved goes mode back, arsenic aboriginal arsenic erstwhile Homan was a babe and they were increasing up successful the Ottawa Valley.

"I utilized to play with Rachel's member successful Little Rocks. We played retired of the RCMP Curling Club and Rachel was a rink rat astir there. We were 10 or 12 years old. Rachel was moving astir and didn't privation thing to bash with a curling rink backmost then," Morris said.

"I deliberation she was 1 oregon 2 erstwhile I met her and we've been household friends ever since."

Canada begins the mixed doubles Olympic curling contention connected Feb. 3.

Their archetypal crippled is against Great Britain, composed of defending mixed doubles satellite champions Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat.