HIGH ACHIEVERS: ‘All systems go’ as unstoppable Team Homan returns to Winter Olympics

By Martin Cleary

Rachel Homan is at the pinnacle of her curling career, a 23-year run of provincial, national and international greatness with no end in sight.

And her peers know that, respect that and willingly step forward to pay tribute to the steely-eyed skip, who lives with her husband and three young children in Beaumont, AB, but calls the Ottawa Curling Club home.

In the fatiguing moments after losing her second straight match in the best-of-three Canadian Olympic women’s curling trials in Halifax, skip Christina Black of the host city paid the ultimate tribute to Homan, third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes and alternate Rachelle Brown.

“We love Team Homan. They’re an amazing team. They are the best team in the world, the best team in the country,” a poised Black said in a scrum interview.

“Obviously, I’m playing and I want to win, but they are the best team we can send to the Olympics. We are so excited to cheer them on. We know they can bring home gold for Canada. They’re just the nicest people and so great. I’m so happy for them and so proud of them.”

Four-time world women’s champion Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland has battled Homan 42 times over 20 years with the Canadian holding a decisive edge with 32 victories.

In the aftermath of Homan defeating Tirinzoni 7-5 to win the 2024 Co-op Canadian Open in Alberta, the members of the Swiss rink joined the Canadians for post-match drinks. When Team Tirinzoni arrived, the laughter immediately began as each member of the Swiss team was wearing a custom-made, black hoodie with Homan Empire stenciled across the front in gold lettering.

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An empire, indeed, and one that continues to grow and grow and grow some more.

In the past two seasons, the Homan rink accomplished a rare back-to-back Canadian feat of winning the women’s world championship in 2024 and 2025. The team also accumulated a total of 142 competition wins against only 15 losses.

The 2025-26 season for Team Homan has maintained their dominance with a 43-7 overall record, which has led to five first-place finishes, one second place and a season-opening third-place result.

Team Homan’s most recent golden moment was Saturday, when it scored points in six of the eight ends of the second Olympic trials match and rolled past Black 12-3 to clinch a berth in the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy. Homan won a tight opening game 5-4 on Friday, scoring five single points over five ends.

Curling Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee officially confirmed on Monday the Homan rink and the Brad Jacobs rink of Sault Ste. Marie as Canada’s respective women’s and men’s curling representatives in four-player curling for the Winter Games.

WATCH CBC SPORTS | Rachel Homan hoping 3rd time’s the charm at Milano Cortina 2026

This will be the second time Homan and Miskew will compete for Canada in four-person Olympic curling and the first time for Fleury, Wilkes, Brown and coach Heather Nedohin.

“It’s so exciting to go together as Olympians,” Homan said in a phone interview with High Achievers on Monday, after being introduced as an Olympian for a third time. She also competed for Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics with John Morris in mixed doubles.

“It’s the first time for Sarah, Rachelle, Heather and Tracy and going back for me means so much. We put this team together four years ago and that (2026 Olympics) was our dream. We’ve realized that dream.”

But the dream wasn’t fulfilled without plenty of concern. Team Homan was the team to beat, which was a given for a unit that has won 89.4 per cent of its matches since the start of the 2023-24 season.

“For us, we’ve had such dominance for the past three seasons,” Homan continued. “We feel like we are at the top of our games. We were the favourites. We had targets on our backs.

“We always try to bring our best. Trials week is what we were working for. Definitely, there was extra pressure, extra nerves.”

All five members of the Homan team are in their mid- to late-30s (35-39) and support each other well, but also have plenty of support around them from family and friends to try to balance their lives as athletes and businesswomen. Four players are mothers and Homan has the largest children’s cheering section with three (Ryatt Mitch, six; Bowyn, four; and Briggs, two). Briggs, aged two, didn’t travel to Halifax for the trials and remained at home with his grandparents.

“They are my biggest motivators,” Homan proudly said. “I want to do well as much for them as for myself. I want to show them the energy and the cool moments to share. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

At the start of the 2025-26 season, Team Homan had developed an Olympic plan, if their shot-making skills took them to Italy. Simply, it’s more hard work over the next three months and continued support for each other.

While Homan has won almost every conceivable curling title – three world championships (including 2017), three Canadian women’s titles from six finals, a record 20 Grand Slam victories (most ever by a female or male), and one Pan Continental championship from two finals – an Olympic medal remains one that she has yet to pin down.

Homan made her Olympic debut at the 2018 Games in South Korea as the 2017 world champion with Miskew at third, Joanne Courtney at second, Lisa Weagle at lead and Cheryl Bernard as alternate.

But Canada lost its first three matches by one or two points, won its next three, but dropped two of its final three games to finish sixth with a disappointing 4-5 record, which left Team Homan out of the playoffs.

For the 2022 Canadian Olympic trials, Homan had slightly adjusted her team, moving Courtney to lead to replace the departed Weagle and having Sarah Wilkes at second.

While Weagle served as the alternate to the Jennifer-Jones-Olympic-bound rink, which defeated Fleury’s foursome 6-5 in the final, Homan finished last in the nine-team qualifier at 2-6.

But Homan had another avenue to reach the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, when she formed a mixed doubles team with Winter Games gold-medallist John Morris of Ottawa. Morris, a member of Canada’s 2010 Olympic men’s gold-medal team, won the 2018 mixed doubles Olympic title with Kaitlyn Lawes.

The Canadian Olympic mixed doubles trials were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Canada had earlier earned one quota spot for the Winter Games based on the fourth-place finish by Kerri Einarson and Brad Gushue at the 2021 world mixed doubles championship. Curling Canada selected Homan and Morris for the Olympics as Gushue had qualified for the Olympics in the men’s draw.

“It’s only every four years,” Homan said about the chances of reaching the medal podium at the Winter Olympic Games. “Three medals and a lot less opportunities to get them. We must manage our family. I had three kids in six years. There’s a fine line between family and curling. We’re not pros. There are some challenges.

“But we’re at a point now that it’s all systems go. We’re excited to get back.”