Canada’s formula for success in wheelchair curling: trust, resilience, experience

CORTINA, Italy – Canada has one game left in what could become a historic preliminary round run in wheelchair curling at the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.

The Canadians are currently 8-0 in the tournament and clinched a berth in the semifinals Wednesday morning and first place in the preliminaries following Thursday’s tight 6-3 win victory over South Korea (4-4) which went down to the final throw.

They conclude the round robin tonight against the U.S. The semifinals are on Friday morning, the bronze match Friday evening and the gold medal match Saturday afternoon.

For two decades Canada has set the standard in the sport. It is the only country to reach the podium at every Games since wheelchair curling became an official Paralympic sport in 2006.  Despite a mighty international surge since Turin, it is still difficult to knock the Canadians off the podium at the Games or world championships.

This year’s quintet ices 14 Games worth of  experience in total. It is comprised of fifth Gil Dash of Kipling, Sask., lead Collinda Joseph of Stittsville, Ont., second Ina Forrest of Spallumcheen, B.C., third Jon Thurston of Dunsford, Ont., and skip Mark Ideson of London, Ont.

It’s a fifth Games for Forrest, also a Team Canada co-captain, Ideson is at his fourth, it’s a second Games for Thurston and Joseph and a first for Dash.

Despite the 8-0 record, the tournament hasn’t been without turbulence for Canada. Usually the ups and downs are defined by wins and losses but for Canada it’s been a blueprint for its reputation for clutch performances.

At these Games, Canada has produced almost perfect games in victories over Latvia and especially defending champion China. There have also been mid-game meltdowns against Italy and Slovakia at which big leads nearly evaporated. There were also dramatic last-end comeback wins against Great Britain and Sweden.

‘’We stay calm and just keep trying to problem-solve on the sheet,’’ said Thurston, whose spectacular double take-out in the win against Norway has been viewed well over a million times on CBC’s social channels alone. ‘’Sometimes the ice is slower, sometimes the rocks are different, and you have to figure it out as you go along.’’

In wheelchair curling, there is no sweeping, so players rely on weight control, ice reading and tactical precision. A major key to success in the sport is communicating and adjusting during games.

‘’When big shots have to happen, we just focus on our process,’’ said Forrest. ‘’When another team makes a shot, you just have to buckle down and make yours. We have a toughness and calmness that we can make the shots when we need to.’’

Of course, on ice communication is crucial factor in wheelchair curling. The venue in Cortina is particularly loud especially when the Italian team makes a big shot which can reverberate through every nook and cranny of the arena and affect the other games on the ice.

‘’Communication to be fair has been challenging in this environment,’’ said Ideson, whose skipped Canada at the last three Winter Paralympics. ‘’We’re working together, relying on each other to figure out the paths, figure out the rocks. We’re just building momentum’’

Behind the scenes, preparation and analysis provide the roots of success. Head coach Mick Lizmore is quick to not only credit the players but the entire Curling Canada crew here for their incredible dedication to preparing the team for the Games.

At a tournament like this even more hours are spent scouting opponents and learning from each shot during the game.

‘’We’re staying connected and clear with the process,’’ said Lizmore. ‘’We throw consistently well. We’ve gotten away with a few games and found our way through some late drama. But It’s good to get that pressure early in the week and work through it.’’

An undefeated preliminary round at the Games has never happened. Russia went 8-1 at the 2014 Games at which Canada won the gold. Canada lost two games in the prelims in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and three in 2022. It won gold in 2006, 2010 and 2014 and bronze at the previous two Games.

It’s not the main goal here is course, but what an achievement that would be if Canada could pull off a perfect round robin —  considered an almost impossible goal in such a deep tournament.

It would be a treat not only for the players but for the Canadian fans here, a growing throng game-by-game.

‘’You just look up and see everybody cheering and waving the Canadian flag,’’ said Forrest. ‘’You can’t feel anymore Canadian than that.

‘’It definitely gives us an extra lift.’’