Curling Canada has awarded five spots to teams for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Saskatoon according to Ted Wyman of Postmedia on Thursday. The spots were announced due to the fact that the 2020-21 curling season has been abbreviated because of coronavirus.
The three men’s teams added to the men’s draw are skipped by Canadian Olympic gold medalist Brad Jacobs of Sault. Ste. Marie of Ontario, Kevin Koe of Calgary, Alberta, and Brendan Bottcher of Edmonton, Alberta. The two women’s teams that are now part of the 2021 Canadian Olympic curling trials are skipped by Canadian Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Tracy Fleury of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The five teams qualified for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Saskatoon by being in the top three of the 2018-19 Canadian Team Ranking System or the 2019-20 Canadian Team Ranking System. In 2018-19 for the men, Koe finished in first place with 512.335 points. He was followed by Bottcher at 494.058 points and Jacobs at 405.98 points. John Epping of Peterborough, Ontario and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Newfoundland were in the top three of the 2019-20 Canadian Team Ranking System, but they already qualified. Epping qualified by winning the 2019 Canada Cup in Leduc, Alberta, and Gushue qualified by winning the 2020 Tim Horton’s Brier in Kingston, Ontario.
For the women, Jones was third in 2018-19 with 362.646 points in the Canadian Team Ranking System. In 2019-20, Fleury was second with 404.325 points and Jones was third with 341.765 points. Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Ontario led the CTRS in 2018-19, while Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Ontario was second in 2018-19 and first in 2019-20. Homan already qualified for the trials by winning the 2019 Canada Cup in Leduc, and Einarson already qualified for the trials by winning the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Jones and Jacobs each won the gold medal at the 2014 OIympic Winter Games in Sochi.
