LIVERPOOL, N.S. — They’ve got the Trials gold, they’ve got the Maple Leaf jackets; now there is just one item remaining on the to-do list for Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant: qualify for the Winter Olympics.
The Chestermere, Alta., husband-and-wife team took a massive step toward the 2026 Winter Olympic Games by winning gold at the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials Saturday before a sellout crowd at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S.
Team Peterman/Gallant, along with coach Laine Peters, were 8-7 winners over Team Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher (Beaumont, Alta./Spruce Grove, Alta.; coach Rachel Brown), and with the win that capped an undefeated week in Liverpool will represent Canada at the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Championship April 26-May 3 in Fredericton, N.B.
With a solid result there, Peterman and Gallant will secure their nomination to the Canadian Olympic team for the 2026 Games in Italy.
“We’ve dreamt of this for a long time,” said Peterman. “In a sense it feels like it’s kind of the first step; we know we still have to earn that spot in a few months, but yeah it’s amazing.
“We had some really, really close games early and we were very determined this week. Just very proud of the week as a whole. It wasn’t as easy as 10-and-0 sounds; it was a grind and we’re really proud of it.”
It was an ideal start to the game for the two-time Canadian mixed doubles champs; in the first end, after Homan was wide and just heavy with her raise attempt, Peterman made an open tap to score three.
An end later, Homan wrecked on a guard on her tap for two, allowing Peterman/Gallant to steal one.
After a nice double takeout by Peterman in the third forced Team Homan/Bottcher to settle for a single, Team Peterman/Gallant scored two more in the fourth.
Trailing 6-1, Team Homan/Bottcher had something brewing in the fifth after a rare miss from Gallant, but Peterman made another crucial double takeout to limit the score to a deuce, which they matched in the sixth to restore the five-point lead.
Team Homan/Bottcher managed to score a pair in the seventh, and in the eighth, Peterman had an open hit to seal the victory.
“I felt myself just checking myself a few times during that game,” said Gallant, a bronze-medallist at the 2022 Winter Olympics playing second for Team Brad Gushue. “You just never feel comfortable, even with the lead that we had, and we knew it was gonna come down to the last shot either way. I’m just thankful that we had a strong game, we battled all the way and it was a relatively easy one for Jocelyn (at the end). Lots of emotions now and just proud of how we played.”
Coach Peters will know all about Cortina should the team nail down its berth in a few months in Fredericton. She’ll be heading to the World Junior Championships in mid-April in Cortina as the coach (with Derek Bowyer) of Canada’s Team Kenan Wipf of Calgary, the reigning Canadian Under-20 men’s champs. And she was already slated to attend the 2026 Olympics in her role as executive assistant to Canadian Olympic Committee president Tricia Smith.
“Brett and Jocelyn are not just rock stars on the ice, but they’re incredibly good people — just good humans,” said Peters. “So it’s just such an honour to be a part of this team.”
Now, the team will turn its focus to Fredericton and earning Canada its berth in the Winter Games mixed doubles competition.
“We understand the responsibility and we wear the uniform with pride,” said Peterman. “You know we’re going to give it our our absolute all in Fredericton and and hopefully in Italy.”
This story will be posted in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025mixeddoublestrials/nouvelles/?lang=fr
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kyle.jahns@curling.ca
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