OTTAWA (by Robin Short) — It really is a small world, sometimes.
Shortly after winning Canada’s first gold medal in Olympic men’s curling a dozen years ago, Brad Gushue and Mark Nichols were invited to instruct at a curling camp in Nova Scotia. One of the camp participants was a young lad, maybe 14 or 15, from Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Back then, like the other kids, Gallant got a kick out of seeing the gold medals won by Gushue and Nichols.
Fast forward, and we see Gallant in his sixth winter curling with Gushue and Nichols, and he’d love nothing better than to win his own Olympic medal – preferably gold.
“I know very well what they look like,” Gallant said of the gold-plated trinkets, “but I don’t know where they hide them.
“Geoff and I, we want to get our medal,” he added, referring to the team’s lead, Geoff Walker.
The thoughts of curling in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics are all the more appealing to Gallant because his father, Peter, is guaranteed to be there.
Peter Gallant, a nine-time P.E.I. men’s champion, is coaching the South Korean women’s team.
That all came about as a result of Team Gushue visiting South Korea twice to help develop the sport there.
Turns out the Koreans were looking for a coach, Gallant’s name came up and the rest is history.
What’s more, Brett Gallant’s girlfriend also has a shot at curling in PyeongChang. Jocelyn Peterman throws second stones on Chelsea Carey’s team out of Alberta here at the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.
“You know, I haven’t really thought about it that much,” Gallant said. “But even if we’re all there, we probably won’t see each other much during the event anyway.”
Gallant has been chasing his Olympic dream for six years, since joining Team Gushue. His father has been living in South Korea off and on for two years now, coaching Kim Eun-jung’s foursome.
“He wants us to do well, and I certainly want him to do well, but it’s not like we’re talking about it every day,” Brett said.
“He’s keeping an eye on things, sending me notes here and there wishing me luck even though he’s over there.”