Canada’s skip Mark Ideson remains cool, calm, collected

LONDON, Ont. – When Dennis Thiessen said farewell to the crowd in London, Ont. after playing his last game for Team Canada at the Grand Slam of Curling in September, it wasn’t hard to see that his longtime teammate Mark Ideson was caught up in the emotion in the moment.

The friends had competed together at just about every major international wheelchair curling tournament for Team Canada since the 2013 world championships including the last three Paralympic Games.

Thiessen even cited the 2014 Games as the highlight of his career in part because of his friendship with Ideson.

“It was just so special,” Thiessen recalled. “Mark (Ideson) and I were newbies, we took in everything that we possibly could, and the experience was just awesome.”

That moment in London contradicted what most wheelchair curling fans see in competition from Ideson. The calm, cool, collected skip for Team Canada, a role he has held since the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

Ideson’s strategical mind for the sport is so strong that he skips from the lead position, a rarity in the sport, and puts sharpshooter Jon Thurston in the last shot position.

‘’I try to lead by example,’’ said Ideson, injured in 2007 when a helicopter he was piloting crashed into a field near Cambridge, Ont., resulting in a spinal cord injury and quadriplegia. 

‘’I never try to show any emotion up or down. We’ve spent enough time around each other now that we know how to pick each other up and get the best out of each other.’’

The world of wheelchair curling is a roller coaster ride particularly during a tournament. At the Beijing Games, the Canadians opened the preliminary round with four straight wins, then lost three in a row before rallying for three wins to finish at 7-3.

“It’s a grueling event,’’ Ideson said. ‘’We just try to stay in the moment, stay steady, not look too far ahead, not look too far back. You treat it as a marathon, not a sprint.’’

What’s also amazing is that Ideson and his crew have maintained Canada among the world’s powerhouses as the sport has surged to unprecedented heights worldwide. Under Ideson, Canada has won bronze at the last two Paralympic Games and three silver and a bronze at the world championships.

‘’The biggest challenge is the way the game has grown over the years,’’ said Ideson. ‘’The skill level has improved tenfold. The equipment’s better, the athletes stronger, and the coaching is top of the line.”

Ideson calls his team family with a constant desire to ‘’support each other, push each other and trying to consistently get better.’’  He feels his upcoming fourth Games could be his most meaningful yet.

‘’We’ve got some unfinished business,’’ he said. ‘’At the last two Games we’ve lost heartbreakers in the semis and this time we want to get back on top of the podium”