Sandra Marie Schmirler was a Canadian curler who captured three Canadian Curling Championships and three World Curling Championships. Schmirler also skipped (captained) her Canadian team to a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, the first year women's curling was a medal sport. At tournaments where she was not competing, Schmirler sometimes worked as a commentator for CBC Sports, which popularized her nickname "Schmirler the Curler" and claimed she was the only person who had a name that rhymed with the sport she played. She died in 2000 at 36 of cancer, leaving a legacy that extended outside of curling. Schmirler was honoured posthumously with an induction into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and was awarded the World Curling Freytag Award, which later led to her induction into the World Curling Federation Hall of Fame.
Curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in the town of Pinerolo, Italy from February 13 to February 24. It proved to be the sleeper hit in terms of television ratings in Italy. According to a CBC feature, curling at the 2006 Winter Games drew 5 million viewers, eclipsing ice hockey and figure skating. This, and the success of the Italian men's curling team created a surge of interest in curling within Italy, where there was no previous tradition of the sport and only a few hundred players.
The Canada Cup is a major men's and women's curling championship in Canada. It is organized by Curling Canada and is one of its major events on its "Season of Champions". The event is frequently used as a qualifier for various other events, such as the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, Pre-Trials and Continental Cup. Since 2013, the Canada Cup is not held during the same curling season as the Winter Olympic Games.
Shannon Kleibrink is a retired Canadian curler from Okotoks, Alberta. She and her team of third Amy Nixon, second Glenys Bakker, lead Christine Keshen and alternate Sandra Jenkins represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. They won a bronze medal.
The 1997 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 22 to March 2, 1997 at the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, British Columbia. The total attendance for the week was 35,390, which was the lowest since 1990.
The Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, marketed from 2009 through 2017 as the Roar of the Rings, are a quadrennial tournament held by Curling Canada that determines the Canadian men's and women's representatives for curling at the Winter Olympics. The system of qualification for the Curling Trials varies for each event, and can be quite complicated. One main reason for an Olympic qualifying event apart from the national championships is that provincial residency rules do not apply to the Olympic team. Curling was added to the Olympic programme in 1998, and a Canadian Olympic Trials have been held the year prior since 1997.
The 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials were held December 6–13, 2009 at Rexall Place in Edmonton. The event is also known and advertised as Roar of the Rings. The winner of the men's and women's events represented Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Canada was guaranteed a team in each event as hosts.
Lesley Kaitlyn Lawes is a Canadian curler. Lawes was the long time third for the Jennifer Jones team that represented Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics where they won the gold medal. They were the first women's team to go through the Olympics undefeated and the first Manitoba based curling team to win at the Olympics. Lawes curled with John Morris in the mixed doubles event at the 2018 Winter Olympics where they won gold. This win made her and Morris the first Canadian curlers to win two Olympic gold medals, and Lawes was the first to win gold in two consecutive Olympics.
The 2009 Grey Power Players' Championship was the last Grand Slam event of both the World Curling Tour and Women's World Curling Tour for the 2008-09 season. This was the seventeenth time the event has taken place, and the fourth time since it was switched to joint men's/women's format. The event was held in Grande Prairie, Alberta April 14-19. Since the event was a part of the Olympic qualifying process in Canada, only Canadian teams were invited. The total purse for each event is $100,000.
The 2005 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials were held from December 3 to 11 at the Halifax Metro Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The winning teams represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
The 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials were held from December 1 to 8 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The winners of the men's and women's events were chosen to represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Dana Ferguson is a Canadian curler from Edmonton, Alberta.
Laura Walker is a Canadian curler from Edmonton, Alberta. She is a two-time Canadian University champion, a national junior champion, world junior silver medallist and world mixed doubles bronze medallist. Walker is originally from Scarborough, Ontario.
Satsuki Fujisawa is a Japanese curler from Kitami, Hokkaido. As a skip, she has won the Japanese national championship six times. Fujisawa skipped the bronze medal-winning Japanese team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and the silver medal-winning team at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She is currently the skip of the Loco Solare curling team.
Monica Walker is an American curler originally from Brighton, Massachusetts. She is a three-time national champion.
A total of 10 teams in each tournament qualified for a quota of 100 athletes in curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics. A further 8 mixed doubles pairs qualified for a total of 16 athletes. Therefore, a total of 116 athletes qualified in total to compete in the curling competitions.
A total of 10 teams in each tournament will qualify for a quota of 100 athletes in curling at the 2022 Winter Olympics. A further 10 mixed doubles pairs will qualify for a total of 20 athletes. Therefore, a total of 120 athletes can qualify in total to compete in the curling competitions.
The 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials were held from November 20 to 28 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The winners of the men's and women's events represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The 2021 Canadian Curling Trials Direct-Entry Event was held from September 22 to 26 at the RA Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. The event was held to qualify two men's teams and three women's teams for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.
The 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Pre-Trials were held from October 25 to 31 at the Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. The event qualified two teams for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Mike Harris
Kevin Martin 
Sandra Schmirler
