After announcing his imminent retirement at the end of this season on Sept. 17 — in part due to injuries that come with a long sports career, but also to spend more time with family — St. John’s curling legend Brad Gushue is looking back fondly on the biggest moment of his career: winning a Brier Tankard trophy in 2017 in his home city.
“That kind of opened the floodgates for us,” he recalled.
“Up to 2017, the Brier was a bit of a monkey on our back, and an event that we couldn’t seem to win, when I think we were good enough to win for several years. To pull it off at home, with all the pressure that we felt and all of the support that we had…We wanted the most difficult setting that we could have for the Brier (for us anyway). Once we were able to achieve that, the rest of the Briers became much easier.”
The win was slightly more meaningful to him than his 2006 Olympic gold while representing Canada, because he was older and wiser.
“In 2017, I had more appreciation for what we had just gone through and what we accomplished,” he said.
“At 25 years old, when you win an Olympic gold medal, you kind of think you’re going to win a whole lot more Olympic gold medals. You’re confident, you feel like you’re on top of the world. The next 11 years kind of humbled me a little bit to realize it’s not as easy as what it was in 2006.
“Not saying it was easy, but I thought there would be more in those 11 years. So, to come back 11 years later and achieve what we did in St. John’s under the pressure, it just takes the edge. It’s not by much, but I would give 2017 just a little bit of a lead.”
A chance to repeat 2017 glory
Gushue and his team will have a chance to repeat the moment this season, as the race for the Brier will again be held in St. John’s.
There’s no place more fitting for his storied career send-off, and while he’s aware competition is stiff, he’s remarked his team will be “leaving it all on the ice.”
Still, the emotional challenge might be even bigger.
“I do believe the Brier this year is going to be a difficult one,” he said.
“Obviously, the teams we’re going to compete against are going to be difficult. But the emotion that we’re going to feel now that it’s going to be the last one for me, to do it at home, that’s going to be a pretty tough one.
“But I can assure you, we’re going to plan as much as we can and do whatever we can to make sure that we’re prepared for that emotion and what we’re going to feel. But I’m excited about it, too.”
Storied career
Gushue’s curling career is arguably unparalleled and has put him in ‘Greatest of all time’ contention. Apart from his Olympic gold, he won an Olympic bronze medal in 2022, and took gold in 2017 while representing Team Canada at the world championships (and silver the following year, as well as 2022, 2023, and 2024).
He has also lifted the Brier Tankards trophy a total of six times (most recently in 2024), and took gold at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in 2021.
Early in his career, Gushue brought home the gold at the 2001 World Junior Curling Championships, and won numerous provincial championships as well as the Canadian junior championship.
