Brad Gushue's Olympic sequel: What a difference 16 years make

Brad Gushue's Olympic journey has come full circle

Just 25 when he skipped Canada to gold at Turin 2006, he's back at the helm 16 years later as Team Gushue try to restore Canada to their spiritual curling home: The top of the Olympic podium.

So what's changed for Brad Gushue after 16 years?

A lot.

“You feel like the world is at your fingertips,” Gushue remembers about that gold medal win with worldcurling.org just weeks out from Beijing 2022.

“You think you are going to win multiple medals and go to multiple World Championships, but curling is a humbling game, it’s a tough sport.”

Canada's Olympic curling record speaks for itself: They've won men's gold or silver at five of six of the Winter Olympic Games since the sport was reintroduced at Nagano 1998.

Team Gushue's triumph at Turin 2006 was the first of three straight gold medals for Canada, under three different skippers.

But curling has changed a lot and the world's caught up. At PyeongChang 2018 Canada didn't even make the podium, losing out to eventual gold medallists USA led by John Shuster in the semi-finals.

Read on to find out how Gushue has changed with the times and how he's ready to bring it home for Team Canada after a thrilling curling trials win over Sochi 2014 gold medallist Brad Jacobs.

Brad Gushue Team: Canada's Curling hope

Canada's four-man team at the Beijing Games will be skip Brad Gushue, vice-skip Mark Nichols, lead Geoff Walker, second Brett Gallant, and alternate Jeff Thomas.

A 4-3 win over Jacobs' team in a game that went right down to the wire at the end of November '21 gave Team Gushue the golden ticket to Beijing.

Curling's Olympic revenant will be back at the big show for the first time in 16 years, a testament to his commitment and dedication to the craft.

And vice Nichols knows exactly how he feels, he won gold alongside Gushue at Turin 2006.

“This is unreal,” Nichols said after the win over Jacobs' rink. “We’ve put our heart and soul into getting back and it’s been 16 years and I just can’t wait to start the prep and get ready to do this again."

For the younger teammates Gallant (31) and Walker (36) it'll be a first ever Olympic Games, the younger of the two is considered one of the best sweepers in the world, while Walker is the team's quiet man who has a precision with the stone that's almost scary.

Despite being a gold medallist and surrounding himself with world class curlers over three Olympic cycles, Team Gushue failed on every occasion from 2010 to 2018 to make the Olympic team.

“It’s not easy to get back, it’s probably, as far as sports go in Canada, is one of the toughest to represent Canada at the Olympics – right up there with ice hockey,” he told World Curling.

But Beijing 2022 presents a number of challenges that didn't even exist in 2006.

Brad Gushue to guide Canadian curling back to the podium at Beijing 2022?

The first issue is getting to China safely.

Speaking to CBS just three weeks before the Games Gushue said that COVID has "had a pretty dramatic impact on our plans to be honest, we've changed our plans multiple times."

Isolating in a house together in Vancouver for weeks before they leave Canada, the team only left the house to go to practice.

But there are advantages too, many distractions have been removed: The team doesn't have to go to public and media appearances, functions, or meet people.

"16 years ago we found that a very chaotic time," Gushue explains, "this time around we've really been able to simplify it."

Has Canada lost its grip on curling?

The other big change in these past 16 years is that the rest of the world has levelled up.

People have gone stone mad for the sport and curling's global rise has been phenomenal. Gushue is well aware that things aren't what they were.

“When we went in 2006, the level internationally was nowhere near where it is right now,” he said before the Canadian trials final.

And they'll face some ice-cold competition in Sweden’s three-time defending world champions skipped by Niklas Edin, 2021 Worlds runner up Bruce Mouat who leads Great Britain's charge and Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz, a PyeongChang bronze medallist.

And don't mention the reigning Olympic champs from south of the border. Shuster and the USA's win four years ago still hurts, and he'll be back in Beijing.

“When we went in 2006, we knew if we played our best we were gonna win," Gushue continued at Canada trials. "We weren’t even the best team in the country then...

“The expectations shouldn’t be as high as they were in 2006 but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be medal favourites going in. We just shouldn’t be overwhelming gold medal favourites like we were 16 years ago.”

Brad Gushue: A brave new man for curling's brave new world

The world might have changed a lot in 16 years, but so has Brad Gushue: Husband, father, business owner, MBA student.

“I’ve changed dramatically over the 16 years,” Gushue tells World Curling. “I think 16 years ago I was a bit more instinctual, a little more fiery, impatient at times, you know, intense.

“I think this time around I’m much steadier, calmer, and patient in how I play the game. I think that just comes with age, experience – you know we’ve been through a lot in 16 years and I kind of know what works for me and what doesn’t.

“I also have things in perspective, while playing at the Olympics is wonderful – and it’s certainly a privilege, you know it’s not the end of the world if you don’t win a medal, or if you do win one.

“That perspective I have is going to pay dividends, because it just takes a little bit of the edge off the pressure that all the teams are going to feel when they go to Beijing.”

With the calming influence of the experienced Mark Nichols next to him and world-class curlers Gallant and Walker suiting up in Canadian colours, this curling dream team could make a memorable return to the top of the podium in Beijing.