Brad Gushue held 40 pounds of granite in one hand, and in the other, the distinct possibility that Canada would leave Beijing without a single curling medal for the first time since the sport was re-introduced to the Olympic Games in 1998.
As it happens, the granite hung lighter in the balance.
The skip of the Canadian team delivered a shot that locked up a bronze medal, exactly 16 years after his golden performance in Turin, Italy.
For Gushue, this bronze is almost more a source of pride than the 2006 Olympic title. He tells Player’s Own Voice podcast host Anastasia Bucsis that there are some weeks you have it and some weeks you don’t. Everything clicked in Turin, and very little was working for the team here in Beijing.
“That’s why it can’t always be about just winning. It has to be about the experience, about the journey, about the challenges you overcome. And we overcame a lot this week to get to where we are right now.”
Gushue is a thoughtful athlete, and with the deliberate tempo of curling, that is not always a good thing. Some sports, your fast reactions will carry the day. On the curling sheets, there’s plenty of time for an active mind to worry its way into jams. But students of the game could see it happening in Beijing, Gushue harnessed his years of mindfulness work, parked the unhelpful considerations, and made the most difficult situations look manageable.
Like the CBC Sports’ Player’s Own Voice essay series, POV podcast lets athletes speak to Canadians about issues from a personal perspective.
Transcripts are provided for our hard of hearing audience. To listen to Brad Gushue or any of the guests from earlier episodes, and more Canadian athletes from the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, head to CBC Listen — or wherever else you get your podcasts.
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