| Joan McCusker | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joan Elizabeth Inglis June 8, 1965 Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada |
Curling career  | |
| World Championship appearances | 3 (1993, 1994, 1997) |
| Olympic appearances | 1 (1998) |
Medal record | |
Joan McCusker (born Joan Elizabeth Inglis; June 8, 1965) is a Canadian Olympic gold medallist curler and broadcaster.
McCusker's greatest successes in curling came during the years she played second on the team of Sandra Schmirler (skip), Jan Betker (third), and Marcia Gudereit (lead). In 1993, 1994 and 1997, they won the Scott Tournament of Hearts, [1] the Canadian women's championship, the first Canadian women's team to win multiple times with the same lineup. [2] As the Tournament of Hearts champions McCusker's team went on to represent Canada at the World Curling Championships three times and won each time. [3] At the 1998 Winter Olympics McCusker and the rest of the Schmirler rink represented Canada, defeating Denmark to win the gold medal. [2] The success of the team of Schmirler, McCusker, Betker, and Gudereit came to an abrupt end in 2000 when Schmirler died of cancer. [4]
In 2000, McCusker and her teammates were inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. [1] In 2019, McCusker and her Olympic teammates were named the greatest female Canadian curling team of all time as part of a TSN poll of broadcasters, reporters and top curlers. [5]
Born on June 8, 1965, in Yorkton, McCusker grew up with her 6 siblings on a farm near Saltcoats, Saskatchewan. [6] She comes from a family of curlers and her sisters Cathy Trowell, Karen Inglis and Nancy Inglis have also curled competitively at the provincial and national levels. Her husband Brian is also a curler and is a three time Saskatchewan champion. [7] Joan and Brian have three children.
McCusker was an elementary school teacher until 1998, when she quit to focus on her curling and broadcasting career. [2] From 2001 to 2024, [8] McCusker had been part of CBC's curling coverage and then Sportsnet's coverage, [9] working with Rob Faulds, Bruce Rainnie and Mike Harris. She also is a motivational speaker. [6]
She currently coaches the Casey Scheidegger rink. [10]
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.
Colleen Patricia Jones is a Canadian curler and television personality. She is best known as the skip of two women's world championship teams and six Tournament of Hearts Canadian women's championships, including an unprecedented four titles in a row and held the record for most Tournament of Hearts wins from when she won her 67th game in 1994 until her eventual 152 wins were eclipsed by Jennifer Jones in 2021.
The Scotties Tournament of Hearts is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Association. The winner goes on to represent Canada at the women's world curling championships. Since 1985, the winner also gets to return to the following year's tournament as "Team Canada". It is formally known as the "Canadian Women's Curling Championship".
Russell W. "Russ" Howard, CM, ONL is a Canadian curler and Olympic champion, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, but originally from Midland, Ontario. He lived in Moncton, New Brunswick, from 2000 to 2019. Known for his gravelly voice, Howard has been to the Brier 14 times, winning the title twice. He is also a two-time world champion, winning in 1987 and 1993. He has also won three TSN Skins Games in 1991, 1992, and 1993, and participated in two Canadian Mixed Curling Championships in 2000 and 2001. He won gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He played in two Canadian Senior Curling Championships in 2008 and 2009 finishing with a silver medal both of those years. Russ Howard was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. He is currently a curling analyst and commentator for TSN’s Season of Champions curling coverage.
Janice "Jan" Betker is a Canadian curler. Betker is best known for playing third on the Sandra Schmirler rink that won three world championships and an Olympic gold medal in the 1990s. Following Schmirler's death from cancer in 2000, Betker replaced her as the team's skip.
Marcia Gudereit is a Canadian curler.
Sherry L. Middaugh is a Canadian curler from Victoria Harbour, Ontario. Before marrying world champion curler Wayne Middaugh, she was known as Sherry Scheirich. She is a five-time Ontario champion and a one-time Saskatchewan curling champion. She is currently the coach of Team Hollie Duncan.
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.
Jill Officer is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Officer played second for the teams skipped by Jennifer Jones from 2003 to 2018 and while they were juniors. The team won a gold medal while representing Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Team Jones was the first women’s team to go through an Olympic campaign undefeated. The team has also won two World Curling Championships in 2008 and 2018, while going through the later event without a loss on their way to gold.
The 1998 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 21 to March 1 at the Agridome in Regina, Saskatchewan. This was the last major tournament in which Sandra Schmirler participated in prior to her death in 2000. The total attendance for the week set a record 154,688 which broke the previous mark set in 1993 by exactly 66,666. As of 2023, this remains the attendance record for the event.
Sports in Saskatchewan consist of a wide variety of team and individual games, and include summer, winter, indoor, and outdoor games. Saskatchewan's cold winter climate has ensured the popularity of sports including its official sport, curling, as well as ice hockey, ice skating, and cross-country skiing. The province also has warm summers and popular summer sports include baseball, football, soccer, basketball, track and field, rodeo, horse-racing, and golf.
Vera Rose Pezer is a Canadian athlete and administrator. Pezer was the Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan from 2007 to 2013. A sports enthusiast, Pezer is a Canadian softball champion, golfing contender, and curling champion. She has been inducted into both the Saskatchewan Sports Halls of Fame and the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame. In 2019, Pezer was named the ninth greatest Canadian curler in history in a TSN poll of broadcasters, reporters and top curlers.
Amber Holland is a Canadian curler from Loreburn, Saskatchewan. Holland skipped Saskatchewan's team to a national women's championship in 2011 by defeating defending champion Jennifer Jones in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and won a silver medal at the 2011 Capital One World Women's Curling Championship. She also won a national championship at the junior level in 1992, and captured a silver medal at the World Junior Curling Championships in 1993 after losing in the final.
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.
Benjamin "Ben" Hebert is a Canadian curler, a Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic gold medallist, 2008 World Champion and four time Brier Champion from Chestermere, Alberta. He currently plays lead on Team Brad Jacobs.
Atina Ford Johnston is a Canadian curler originally from Gray, Saskatchewan. She is best known as the alternate of the Sandra Schmirler team, whith whom she is an Olympic Champion (1998), World women's champion (1997) and Canadian women's champion (1997).
Connie Laliberte is a Canadian retired curler from Manitoba and world champion.
The Caledonian Curling Club, also known as the Callie, is a curling club located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Established in 1915, the club is among the oldest in the province and has been the home of many championship teams, including the Sandra Schmirler rink, which won three provincial, national, and world championships in the 1990s and the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Randy Woytowich is a Canadian curler from Saskatchewan. He is a former Canadian mixed champion and two-time provincial men's champion.
Anita Ford is a Canadian curler and curling coach from Regina, Saskatchewan. She is known as the alternate and later coach of the Sandra Schmirler team.
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