(by Dave Stewart)
Brett Gallant says he can’t wait to wear the Maple Leaf for Canada at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games.
The Charlottetown curler is currently training with his team, the Brad Gushue rink, in Vancouver, B.C., before heading to China on Feb. 4.
The Gushue foursome plays its first game on Feb. 9 against Denmark.
Brett Gallant practises at a Vancouver-area curling club. He and his teammates on the Brad Gushue rink are currently training in Vancouver as they prepare to represent Canada at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games. – Contributed
“This is a dream come true,” Gallant told SaltWire Network in a recent phone interview. “I can’t wait for that moment when I put the Maple Leaf on. The work and the effort and the sacrifices you make as an athlete over the course of a number of years, it’s pretty special. I’m pretty proud to represent our country on this stage.”
This will be Gallant’s first step into the Olympic spotlight.
The team has rented a house in Vancouver and is only travelling to and from a nearby curling rink to try to avoid COVID-19. The choice of training in Vancouver was also made to shorten the trip to Beijing.
The rink had spent a month training in St. John’s, N.L., after beating Brad Jacobs in the final of the men’s Olympic trials on Nov. 28.
“This is a dream come true. I can’t wait for that moment when I put the Maple Leaf on. The work and the effort and the sacrifices you make as an athlete over the course of a number of years, it’s pretty special. I’m pretty proud to represent our country on this stage.”
– Brett Gallant
Following the Olympic trials, Gallant’s fiancée, Jocelyn Peterman, also travelled to St. John’s to spend the holidays together. Peterman, who throws second for the Canadian women’s Olympic champion rink, is now in Toronto training with her team.
Gallant said his teammates spent the break isolating with their families, only travelling to the rink to stay in shape.
Calling the game
Bruce Rainnie, the former CBC Compass anchor in Charlottetown, will be calling the curling games for the national broadcaster and believes the Gushue rink is the team to beat on the men’s side.
“I think they are in the enviable position of, if they play their best, I think they win,” Rainnie told SaltWire Network on Jan. 17. “That’s not to denigrate any other teams in the field …, but I still believe if that Gushue team is firing on all cylinders …they kind of control their own destiny. If they’re on, I do believe they’re still the best in the world.”
Click for full story at SaltWire Network: https://www.saltwire.com/prince-edward-island/news/charlottetown-curler-brett-gallant-prepares-to-realizes-his-olympic-dream-100683105/