According to CBC Sports on Monday, London, Ontario has been awarded the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier. This will be the third time that the city of London will have hosted the Brier. They previously hosted the Canadian National Men’s Curling Championship in 1974 and 2011. The 1974 champion was Hec Gervais of Edmonton, Alberta and the 2011 champion was Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The second for the Gervais team in 1974 was Warren Hansen of Edmonton. For many years, Hansen was the director of event operations for Curling Canada. Currently at the age of 78, Hansen currently operates a podcast with Canadian Olympic gold medalist Kevin Martin of Killam, Alberta called Inside Curling. Martin won a gold medal for Canada in men’s curling at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
Stoughton meanwhile ended up leading Canada to a gold medal at the 2011 World Men’s Curling Championships in Regina, Saskatchewan. In the gold medal game, Canada defeated Scotland’s Tom Brewster 6-5.
London has also hosted two Canadian women’s national curling championships. They hosted the 1986 and 2006 Scott Tournament of Hearts. In 1986, the champion was Marilyn Darte of Toronto, Ontario, and the 2006 champion was Kelly Scott of Kelowna, British Columbia. The 2006 Canadian Women’s National Curling Championship was the last year the tournament was known as the Scott Tournament of Hearts, as the following year it was known as the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Speaking of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the 2022 Canadian National Women’s Curling Championship commences Friday in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
