LIVERPOOL, N.S. — The winner of the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials that start Monday will take on double duty.
That duo not only earns the right to represent Canada in the 2026 Olympic Games, but in order to do that, must first qualify their country for the Winter Games at the 2025 world championship in order to get to Milan-Cortina, Italy.
The 16-team trials field divided into two pools starts play Monday at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S.
The top three teams from each pool advance to Thursday's playoffs and the final is Jan. 4.
The winner represents Canada at the world championship April 26 to May 3 in Fredericton.
The top eight countries in World Curling's rankings will compete in the Olympic Games.
The 2024 world mixed doubles championship was also a qualifying factor. Canada ranks fifth in the world after Colton and Kadriana Lott of Gimli, Man., reached the playoff round in Aberdeen, Scotland.
The Lotts, Brendan Bottcher and reigning women's world champion skip Rachel Homan, Lisa Weagle and John Epping, Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres, and the husband-and-wife duos of Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing, and Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, are in the trials field.
Peterman and Gallant were world championship silver medallists in 2019 and Walker and Muyres, the top-ranked team in Canada, were bronze medallists in 2018.
Mixed doubles made its Olympic debut in 2018, when Canada's Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris claimed the first gold medal in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Morris and Rachel Homan placed fifth in Beijing in 2022.
Eight teams gained entry to the 2025 trials via the 2024 national mixed championship, last season's Canadian rankings or at one of three direct-qualifying events.
The remaining eight top-ranked teams were confirmed after qualifying tournaments concluded in December.
The rest of the trials field includes Nancy Martin and Steve Laycock, Brittany Tran and Rylan Kleiter, Jennifer Armstrong and Tyrel Griffith, Riley Sandham and Brendan Craig, Taylor Reese-Hansen and Corey Chester, Anne-Sophie Gionest and Robert Desjardins, Melissa Adams and Alex Robichaud, Jessica Zheng and Victor Pietrangelo, Paige Papley and Evan Van Amsterdam, and the father-daughter duo of Jim Cotter and Jaelyn Cotter.
Canada's team trials will be Nov. 22-30, 2025, in Halifax. The mixed doubles trials were shifted to much earlier in the calendar to allow the winner more preparation time, particularly if those curlers aspire to represent Canada in both team and mixed doubles in Italy.
The mixed doubles trials do not have a title sponsor or broadcast partner. Games will be streamed on Curling Canada's YouTube channel.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2024
The Canadian Press