BEIJING — Still reeling from a semifinal loss at the Beijing Games, a passing comment from Marc Kennedy helped get the Canadian men's curling team motivated to reach the podium.
The team alternate, who missed out on bronze four years ago with Kevin Koe, shared how much a win in the third-place game — typically a tough one to get up for — would have changed his Olympic experience.
Canadian skip Brad Gushue said the locker-room chat helped fuel his side in an 8-5 win over American John Shuster on Friday at the Ice Cube.
"It allowed us to put as much as we could into the game," Gushue said. "It's the toughest game I've ever had to play because you want to give 100 per cent but you don't have 100 per cent."
Gushue stole two points in the ninth end when Shuster was light on a hit and Canada ran the U.S. out of rocks in the 10th.
It was the lone Canadian curling medal at these Games. Britain's Bruce Mouat and Sweden's Niklas Edin will play for gold on Saturday.
Gushue and vice Mark Nichols won gold at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy. This was the first Olympic medal for lead Geoff Walker and second Brett Gallant.
"I think our team fought through and grinded and came away with a bronze medal," Gushue said. "It was quite clear to any curling fan that we weren't at our best this week.
"I'm quite proud to get on the podium."
The Canadian duo of John Morris and Rachel Homan missed the cut in mixed doubles and Jennifer Jones came up short in the women's team event.
Gushue opened with hammer against the Americans and scored a deuce in the first end. Shuster, who won Olympic gold in 2018, answered with a pair in the fourth.
Canada was unlucky in the fifth end when a Gushue stone picked on a blank attempt. He missed a double-takeout in the sixth to set up an American deuce.
Gushue had another stone pick in the seventh but did well to salvage a blank. A technical timeout was granted after the end so the ice could be mopped.
Gushue believed that foam strips on the sides of the sheet were "kind of disintegrating," with small bits of debris sometimes impacting the rock's direction.
It happened on four occasions to his team, he said, adding he was pleased Shuster and the umpire agreed to a quick cleaning.
"Ultimately you want it to come down to skill and not luck," he said. "With the amount of debris from the boards, it made sense to do it."
Playing with more confidence knowing the chances of another pick were slim, Gushue scored a pair in the eighth end and was on his way.
The Canadian side had its moments during round-robin play but couldn't quite find its top gear. It was the same story in the semifinal.
Falling to Sweden was a blow for a team hoping for bigger things. Gushue played the percentages but it didn't work out in his favour.
The St. John's skip went for the win on a tough shot in the 10th end rather than trying to steal the victory in an extra end.
Like Jones and Homan/Morris, Gushue finished round-robin play with a 5-4 mark.
However, his team was able to make the four-team cut and eventually ensure that Canada wouldn't be shut out of the medals.
"It really is a fine line here between winning a gold medal and missing the playoffs," Gushue said. "Hopefully curling fans understand that and appreciate it."
After some hugs and a few pictures at ice level, it was a proud and happy squad who had managed to ease the pain from a crushing loss the night before.
"I'm obviously disappointed it's not a gold, but it could also be nothing," Nichols said. "The bronze medal is going to look really nice next to the gold medal.
"And there's not many people in the world that can say they've got two of them."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2022.
Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
