Homan and Morris selected as Team Canada’s mixed doubles curling duo for Beijing 2022
John Morris will have the opportunity to win a second straight Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles curling.
He and Rachel Homan have been selected by Curling Canada for the Olympic nomination following the cancellation of the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials that were supposed to have taken place December 28-January 2. The event was called off just a couple of days before it was to start because of positive tests for COVID-19 among athletes scheduled to compete and the potential for more cases to arise quickly.
“Rachel and I have played a lot of mixed doubles together over the years with the dream of playing for Canada at the Olympics,” said Morris. “We can’t wait to get over there and give it our best. We know it’s a tough field, but we’ve worked extremely hard this season and we’ll be fighting hard for gold in Beijing.”
Morris is headed to his third Olympic Winter Games while Homan will be competing at her second Games. Before winning the inaugural Olympic mixed doubles gold at PyeongChang 2018 with Kaitlyn Lawes, Morris was a gold medallist in the men’s event at Vancouver 2010 where he was the vice-skip for Team Kevin Martin. No curler has ever won three Olympic medals.
Morris had teamed up with Lawes for the trials that would determine Canada’s 2018 Olympic mixed doubles tandem only after Homan, his planned partner, had won the four-player national trials with her team to earn their own trip to PyeongChang 2018.
Team Canada skip Rachel Homan leaves the hack during round-robin action against Sweden at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Korea, Thursday, February 15, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO – COC – Jason Ransom 
Team Canada’s John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes compete in the Mixed Doubles Curling Semi-finals at PyeongChang 2018, Sunday, February 11, 2018. COC Photo by Stephen Hosier
Among the past successes for Homan and Morris together in mixed doubles are a silver medal at the 2017 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship and a victory earlier this season at a mixed doubles bonspiel in Banff/Canmore where they defeated a world class field, including Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant in the final. Peterman and Gallant are the number one team in the Canadian mixed doubles rankings but are already headed to Beijing with Team Jennifer Jones and Team Brad Gushue after their wins at the team trials in November.
READ: Team Jones and Team Gushue official join Team Canada for Beijing 2022
In addition to her Olympic experience from PyeongChang 2018, Homan is a three-time national champion and 2017 World Champion in women’s curling. That global title was won in Beijing, just a few kilometres from the National Aquatics Centre, dubbed the Ice Cube, where she and Morris will go for gold. Homan also owns two other world championship medals.
“John and I are eager to get to Beijing and make Canada proud,” said Homan. “We know these are difficult circumstances, and we truly appreciate the faith being shown in us by Curling Canada.”
READ: Team Canada’s Olympic curling schedules for Beijing 2022
Mixed doubles will kick off the curling competition at Beijing 2022. Homan and Morris will see their first action on the morning of February 3 (Day -1) when they face Team GB’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, the reigning world champions.
The round robin will conclude on the morning of February 7 and the semifinals will take place that evening. The bronze and gold medal matches are scheduled for February 8.
Team Canada Mixed Doubles Curlers at Beijing 2022:
Rachel Homan (Beaumont, AB)
John Morris (Canmore, AB