Canada looking for 1st mixed doubles curling world championship

Six years ago, Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant came close to becoming world champions together.

The married couple, who compete in mixed doubles together, finished second at the discipline's world championship in 2019. They lost to Swedes Anna Hasselborg and Oskar Eriksson by just one point.

No Canadian team has ever won a world mixed doubles curling championship, but Peterman and Gallant would like to change that.

They'll represent Canada at the world championship on home ice, beginning on Saturday at Willie O'Ree Place in Fredericton, N.B. The pair earned their spot at Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials in Liverpool, N.S. in January, defeating Rachel Homan and Brendan Bottcher 8-7 in the final.

"I haven't won a world championship," Peterman told CBC Sports. "I would love to be a world champion and kind of leave it all on the ice in that sense. We came up just short of that in 2019 and we would love nothing more than to stand on the top of that podium and hopefully send a message of what we're hoping to do next year."

Qualification for next year's Olympics in Italy are also on the line at the tournament. Peterman and Gallant will represent Canada there too, should they qualify.

Ten teams will compete in mixed doubles inside Cortina Olympic Stadium in Cortina D'Ampezzo next February. Italy automatically qualifies as the host country.

The top seven other countries will also earn spots, based on points earned at the 2024 world championship and this year's tournament in Fredericton. The final two spots will be determined by a last-chance qualification event set for December.

Going into the world championship, Canada has 16 points for Olympic qualification in mixed doubles, ranked sixth on a list that includes Italy's automatic berth at number one.

Peterman and Gallant have already been to an Olympics at the same time — Peterman as the second for Jennifer Jones' rink and Gallant as the second on a bronze-medal winning team led by Brad Gushue in 2022.

But it's another goal for the couple to get there together.

"That's firing us up for this upcoming week," Gallant said last week from Calgary, where he and Peterman were training for the world championship. 

A lot has changed since the loss at worlds in 2019.

For one, Peterman and Gallant now live under the same roof. At one time, the pair were split up with Peterman based out of Winnipeg and Gallant in St. John's. They've also become parents to a son, Luke, who was born in May 2023.