By Craig Beauchemin

Former Olympian’s passion for curling still burns

Feb 25, 2016 | 4:44 PM

Joan McCusker’s name is well known in the world of curling.

She was part of the first ever women’s team to win an Olympic gold medal in curling at the 1998 games in Nagano, is a three-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts winner and a three-time World Championships winner.

This week she’s spending her time at the Northland Power Curling Centre in North Battleford competing in the senior provincials.

After Thursday morning’s win, McCusker’s rink is now 3-0, though she says they’re not letting that get to their heads.

“Anytime you can start a round robin like this it’s great, but it’s a long event and three wins isn’t going to give us a buy to the finals or anything,” she said with a laugh. “We’re certainly enjoying ourselves and playing quite well early.”

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Despite all her past experience in international events, McCusker says she hasn’t lost an ounce of her love for the game of curling.

“That’s the big surprise when you get out there,” she said. “One of my teammates said ‘I forgot how much I really want to make shots.’ Taking time away from the game and getting older, that passion for doing the best you can is still there and it comes roaring back when you get back on the ice.”

While an event like the senior provincials may not be as competitive as others events she’s curled in before, that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.

“It’s really fun. If you’re not having fun, usually you’re not winning,” she explained. “We’ve always figured that part out, that if we go to an event it’s a girls weekend away. We’re going out for nice meals, we’re making the most of it and getting as many laughs as we can.

“This is a classic Saskatchewan playdown event. Lots of laughter, having drinks with the other teams after the games, it’s a really special experience that I kind of missed.”

Now that she’s at the senior level, McCusker says she hopes to continue curling as long as she can.

“With the help of a stick, probably,” she said with a big laugh. “I’m not that far away from joints wearing out a little bit. Unfortunately curling is quite hard on your knees and back, it’s a repetitive motion and that’s catching up to us a little bit. But we enjoy the game and we’ve found a way to play recreationally and not care so much, which was a big thing for us. We all have kids at home who are athletic and busy, and we’re very much moms first. Coming back to curling now, it’s a joy to be able to continue to play.”

The senior provincials wrap up at the Northland Power Curling Centre Sunday.

 Email: cjnbsports@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @craig_beauch