Canada’s mixed doubles curling team defeats Norway and Italy in round-robin play

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – Canadian curlers Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman succeeded in their first true test at the mixed doubles competition on Thursday at the Winter Olympics. 

A 6-3 win over Norway was followed by a statement victory — a 7-2 decision in just six ends — over defending champion Italy. The effort left the husband-and-wife duo from Chestermere, Alta., at the top of the round-robin table at 3-0.

“Every win is huge here because I think there’s so many evenly ranked teams,” Gallant said. “I think it’s going to be a dogfight, especially getting towards the playoffs. It’s going be very difficult.”

Canada never trailed in the afternoon victory and stormed out with a five-point first end in the nightcap. The emphatic start hushed the partisan crowd at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. 

“We were ready for it, and it was fun to hear all them,” Peterman said. “It was also fun to hear our fans cheering really loud in the first end and kind of quiet them down a little bit too.”

Gallant said five “really good shots” out of the gate set the tone against the Italians, who ran the table at the 2022 Olympics and again at the world championship last spring.

Mosaner struggled with draw weight, and Constantini made several uncharacteristic misses.

“I didn’t understand much about the ice,” Mosaner said. “Too slow for me, but the ice is the same for everybody.”

The home spectators banged their feet on the grandstand by the side of Sheet A when Italy got on the board with a single in the second end. 

They cheered hard again in the fourth when Italy scored its only other point. The Italians offered handshakes after another miss to end the sixth end. 

Constantini shot a game-low 50 per cent. Italy was 63 per cent overall, well below Canada at 83 per cent.

“It was just a really, really good start,” Gallant said. “But we kept it going the whole game.”

The Canadians took care of business in their opener with an uneven game that had plenty of misses but effective shotmaking when it mattered.

Peterman made a raise double-takeout in the third end for a deuce and the lone multiple-point score. Gallant raised his fist in the air to salute his partner down the sheet. 

“That was a four-point swing, and it was a key shot,” he said. “And yeah, we made the draws when we were in trouble, and we had to get out of it.”

Each team was held to a single on mid-game power plays. In the seventh, Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten both tried low-percentage spinners to get around a crowded house.

Skaslien nearly made the rare shot — made famous after Niklas Edin’s miracle throw at the world men’s championship in 2023 in Ottawa — but settled for a single after coming a rock length short.

With hammer in the eighth end, Peterman came through with a draw inside the eight-foot ring for the victory. 

“It wasn’t maybe our highest statistic game, but we made a lot of the right shots at the right time,” Gallant said. 

Canada finished at 74 per cent overall while Norway shot 73 per cent.

Gallant and Peterman opened play a day earlier with a tidy 10-5 victory over Czechia’s Julie Zelingrova and Vit Chabicovsky. 

After four sessions, Canada shared first place with Great Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat. Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse were the only other unbeaten team at 2-0.

Mixed doubles play continues through the medal games on Tuesday. Traditional four-player team play begins the next day.

The Ottawa-based rink skipped by Rachel Homan is representing Canada in the women’s competition. Skip Brad Jacobs will wear the Maple Leaf for the Calgary-based men’s side.

Canada hasn’t won Olympic curling gold since the mixed doubles team of John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes was victorious in 2018 at Pyeongchang, South Korea. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.