Team Canada on a hot streak at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games

CORTINA d’AMPEZZO, Italy — Monday morning’s game between Team Canada and Team Latvia added another tally to Canada’s win column.

The Canadian team, skip Mark Ideson (London, Ont.); vice-skip/third Jon Thurston (Dunsford, Ont.); second Ina Forrest (Spallumcheen, B.C.); and fifth Gilbert Dash (Kipling, Sask.), who threw lead rocks, defeated Latvia 11-1 in six ends at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games.

The Canadians were dominant and started yet another game with a big steal in the first end. Similar to Team Canada’s opening game against Italy, this set them up to maintain a big lead throughout the game, and this time, it stuck.

In the second end, Latvia had an opportunity to tie the game 3-3, but its fourth-rock thrower, Sergejs Djacenko, ’s last stone overcurled to miss the takeout and allowed Canada a steal of one.

Some excitement arose in the fourth end, with some hitting back and forth. With his last rock, Djacenko was facing three Canadian stones with a chance to draw for one, but bumped the opposing stone instead and helped Canada to a steal of four.

It was a tough morning for Djacenko’s draw game. In the fifth end, he faced an open draw to score one, but it was heavy, and Canada stole another two to push the score to 11-0.

“We just had a really good ice-rock combination this morning, and so rocks were travelling really well, and we were reading the sheet well,” said Forrest. “I think it was just a combination of everything coming together for us.”

The energy was high in the historic Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium with about 40 friends and family supporting Team Canada. Around the rink, cheers for host country Italy did not let up either and made for an exciting atmosphere for the morning draw. The Italians similarly bested Team Slovakia 10-0.

Team Latvia made some lineup changes in the sixth end to look for a way to mix things up. Linda Meijere, usually the second-rock thrower, took on the last rocks of the game for Latvia and ended up with a single on the board.

But it was a team effort from Canada too strong for the Latvians to overcome. The support between the teammates themselves, the coaches, the support staff, and the proud Canadian fans made all the difference on a stage as big as the one at the Paralympic Games.

“It was epic,” said Dash. “It was amazing. The introduction, the atmosphere of the pregame show when you’re out on the ice—it’s electric. This place was rocking, and we had a lot of Canadian fans, so when I looked over in our section, it was a great feeling. To put on the Maple Leaf and represent Canada in wheelchair curling events, I feel so proud.”

It was a Paralympic debut for Dash, the five-time national champion who skipped the mixed team to bronze at the 2025 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Scotland.

“I felt ready here with the support from home, from coaches from when I was young to old, and from the amount of community members and people from Saskatchewan that have reached out to me to congratulate me for making it here,” said Dash. “They let me know that they’re cheering me on, and they continue to do so. To hear them say that they’re up late watching the games and they’re really into it—I like to hear that.”

Dash credits the support of his friends, family, teammates, coaches, and community for his confidence on the ice and was touched to see his partner, Angela, make it to Cortina in time to see him play.

The Canadian lead, Collinda Joseph (Ottawa), supported the team from the bench on Monday with coaches Mick Lizmore and Dana Ferguson. Also supporting Team Canada are team leader Kyle Paquette; team physiotherapist Sari Shatil; team physician Dr. Steven Macaluso; performance science lead Kyle Turcotte; and family and friends coordinator Wendy Morgan.

Team Canada will have an important day on Tuesday, facing the currently undefeated and defending Paralympic champion Team China at 4:35 a.m. (all times Eastern) and Team Sweden at 1:35 p.m.

“We know those are two big games tomorrow, so we just have to be ready when starting in the first end to get the hop on the other team,” said Forrest.

For live scoring, team lineups, and standings, CLICK HERE.

All of Canada’s games will be broadcast on a variety of platforms by CBC, the official Paralympic rights-holder in Canada. CLICK HERE for the CBC broadcast schedule.

This story will be posted in French as soon as possible at https://www.curling.ca/fr/nouvelles-media/