Team Canada has appointed its first two athletes for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant were officially appointed to represent Canada in the mixed double curling test.
The news was announced two days after the end of the world mixed 2025 double curling championship which took place in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The Canadians finished this competition in sixth row.
Combined in fifth place obtained in the world mixed 2024 double curling championship, this result allowed Canada to win one of the seven places allocated for the Olympic tournament, according to the classification of Olympic double mixed qualification points.
As host countries, Italy was already assured of the presence of a team of mixed doubles in Milano Cortina 2026. The other countries being part of the first group of qualified people alongside Estonia, Great Britain, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and the United States. The last two places will be allocated in December, during the Olympic qualification test which will take place in Kelowna, British Columbia.
By winning the Canadian Mixed double curling tests in early January, Peterman and Gallant insured a place at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games. Faced with the best teams from around the country, Peterman and Gallant remained undefeated during the tournament to take advantage of the Canada team squares in the world championship and Olympic Games for next year.
In Milano Cortina 2026, it will be the fourth time that Peterman and Gallant will form team Canada in an international mixed double curling competition. They previously participated in the World Mixed Curling World Championship in 2019 and 2022, winning the silver medal in their first presence. Their double mixed partnership started in 2016 and they won the Canadian Mixed Double Curling Championship that year.
Parents of a little Luke, almost two years old, Peterman and Gallant will live their second winter Olympic Games, but their first as teammates. In Beijing 2022, they played in the four events: Gallant won bronze with Gushue team, while Peterman finished fifth with Jones team, one rank of the playoffs.
The first months of 2025 were rather busy for Peterman and Gallant. They each participated in their respective national championships, the heart tournament for women and the brier with men, in February and March with their current teams. After the Jacobs team won the brier, Gallant participated in the fourth world championship of male curling in his career and he helped his own to get his hands on the bronze medal in early April.
The mixed double curling was added to the Olympic program in Pyeongchang 2018, where Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris won the gold medal during the inaugural edition. Morris again participated in the test at Beijing 2022, this time with Rachel Homan. They finished fifth, one rank of the qualification for the playoffs.
Canada has won 12 Olympic medals over the years at Curling, the highest total in all participating countries. Canada has six Olympic gold medals.
The mixed double will be the first curling test to take place in Milano Cortina 2026, while the first games will take place on Wednesday February 4, two days before the opening ceremony. The duels of the tournament in the round will be disputed until February 9, then will follow the semi-finals in the evening. Meetings for medals will follow on February 10.
The matches of the Olympic Curling competition will be played at the Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina, a historic site that previously hosted the opening ceremony, the artistic skating events and a few hockey games during the Cortina’s Winter Olympic Games in 1956.
Regarding the identity of training courses that will train team Canada at the Olympic tournaments of men and women, it will be known at the end of the Canadian trials of Curling 2025 which will take place from November 22 to 30 in Halifax. Canadian curlers now have the right to participate in several disciplines at the Olympic Games, which means that Peterman and Gallant will have the opportunity to qualify for Milano Cortina 2026 at Curling at four. Kaitlyn Lawes team and Brad Jacobs team are among the teams that won their place in the tests.
Team curlers Canada in mixed doubles at Milan Cortina 2026 SONT:
Jocelyn Peterman (Chestermere, AB)
Brett Gallant (Chestermere, AB)
