OLYMPIC MEMORIES
GOLD MEDALLISTS LOOK BACK AFTER 20 YEARS
They were incredibly dominant. – Shannon England’
Bittersweet feelings remain 20 years after the Sandra Schmirler's goldmedal triumph in women's curling at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
The sweet side to the memory for third Jan Betker, second Joan McCusker and lead Marcia Gudereit was capturing the first gold medal awarded in women's curling at the Winter Olympics.
The joy was short-lived because Schmirler was later diagnosed with cancer. She died on March 2, 2000 at the age of 36.
The legacy of the team endures thanks in part to the medal and Schmirler's down-to-earth demeanour that made her one of Canada's brightest sports stars.
“I've had a lot of phone calls where someone is writing an essay (about Schmirler) wondering, 'Do I have anything to add?' '' Gudereit recalls when asked about the team's legacy. “It's because of our situation, the tragedy with Sandra, and we were the first to win an Olympic gold medal in curling. There are a lot of reasons that people look up to us in the way they do.''
Schmirler's performance at the Winter Olympics was the capper to a remarkable run by the Regina-based women's team in the 1990s.
Schmirler and Co. won Canadian and world championships in 1993, 1994 and 1997. The team then finished first at the 1997 Canadian Olympic team trials after beating Calgary's Shannon Kleibrink 9-6 in the final.
The result is still remembered for Schmirler's game-saving shot in the seventh end. Schmirler executed an improbable cross-house angle takeout to score three. The shot came just 10 weeks after Schmirler had given birth to Sara.
''That ranks as probably the biggest shot I've ever made in my life,'' Schmirler told reporters. ''Sara was my best delivery, but that was pretty close.''
The win meant Schmirler and Co. were Canada's representative in women's curling at the Winter Olympics.
“They were incredibly dominant,'' said Schmirler's husband, Shannon England. “From 1993 to 1998, look at what they won … three Canadians, three worlds and an Olympic gold medal. You have a team like (Winnipeg's) Jennifer Jones who has been curling for 12 years. She has one more Canadian title (than Schmirler), but you look at a small time frame. They were so dominant.''
As a result, they were heavy favourites to win the gold medal in 1998. They earned that label after going 8-0 in finals at the national and international championships. The members of Team Canada were well aware of the high expectations heading into the Winter Games.
“I remember being very stressed (after the Olympic team trials) because we were involved in a lot of stuff that wasn’t curling prep related,’’ Betker says. “We were distracted with other stuff and we didn’t know if we were spending enough time on the ice practising.’’
Some of that pressure eased once the team, along with alternate Atina Ford and coach Anita Ford, arrived in Japan. The curling venue was in Karuizawa, Japan, while the main Olympic village was in Nagano. The distance from the centre of the Winter Games was an advantage for the team.
“It almost felt like the world championships because we were in our little place with the curlers,’’ Betker says. “You were always aware of where it was because the rings were everywhere. You still felt the pressure, but the familiarity was there because it was just a curling event.’’
The curlers were aware of what was at stake.
“I’m not going to say we were totally relaxed because we knew that every time we missed a shot that everybody freaked out at home and wondered what was wrong,’’ McCusker says with a laugh.
The team cruised through the round-robin portion of the Winter Olympics before encountering difficulties against Great Britain’s Kirsty Hay in a semi-final.
In an extra end, Schmirler faced a routine draw to the eight-foot for the win and a berth in the gold-medal match.
McCusker remembers telling her skip that it was just a regular draw. The second didn’t realize that some encroaching frost had changed the ice conditions and the ice was faster than a regular draw.
Schmirler’s shot ground to a halt at the back of the eight-foot and Canada advanced to the gold-medal match with a heart-stopping 6-5 win.
“That was the most relieved and the most emotional that I’ve ever been (after a win) because of my own lack of mental recovery and being in a bad spot,’’ McCusker says. “Still, the pressure was off because we knew that we would get a medal.’’
The pressure was relieved even more in the gold-medal match when Canada scored three in the first end and went on to beat Denmark’s Helena Blach Lavrsen 7-5 in nine ends.
The victorious team members ascended the medal podium on Feb. 15, 1998. It was also the first time they had looked at the medals.
“We walked by them and we refused to look at them,’’ McCusker says. “When they brought them out that was the first time we finally got a hard look at them and they were so beautiful.’’
That’s when all of the curlers realized what they had accomplished.
“They brought out the medals and that was the hit-home moment and that it was really going to happen,’’ McCusker adds. “You just couldn’t let yourself go to that end moment ahead of time because you would freak out.
“I still remember the podium being that special. You’ll never sing O Canada in the same way without thinking about that or the flag going up without thinking about all of the stuff going through your head. It changes the whole singing of the national anthem.’’
It was a life-changing event for the team members. They were more than Canadian and world champions; they were gold medallists on the sport’s biggest stage.
“It was a big thing,’’ Betker says. “We got invited to quite a few things and a lot of it fell on Sandra. She dealt with a lot of the attention and the requests. We had some. That’s the nature of the beast that she was saddled with as the skip.’’
There wasn’t much time for the team to savour the accomplishment. Schmirler’s 1997 Canadian title meant the gold medal-winners returned to the 1998 Scotties Tournament of Hearts as Team Canada. It also meant they were in that role in Regina six days after winning the gold medal.
“We all wanted to be home, but thank God that it was in Regina,’’ Gudereit says. “If not, I’m not sure how we would have done it. Number one, we were exhausted. If we were somewhere else, we wouldn’t have been able to go home and see our kids and we probably would have quit halfway through the week.’’
A credit to the curlers is they performed well enough to earn a playoff berth and finish third.
“I’ve never been more disengaged and jetlagged than during the Scotties,’’ McCusker says. “It’s unfair to come back from something that big and plop you into an event that other people view as really big.
“In my head, I was saying ‘I don’t care.’ We all had babies, but we had to stay in the hotel and I just wanted to go home. Then there were the demands of the fans and the hours that we spent signing autographs. It was so hard to continue at that energy level.’’
The Scotties in Regina was the final national competition for Schmirler and Co. After giving birth of Jenna, her second daughter, on June 30, 1999, Schmirler was diagnosed with cancer in August of that year and she died eight months later.
Schmirler’s funeral was held on March 8 and was marked by an outpouring of support across the country from people of all walks of life.
“For it to have happened so suddenly and at such a young age and out of nowhere was the shocking part,’’ McCusker says. “When I look back, I think about if I could have done anything differently and that answer was ‘No.’ It just happened so quickly and it was out of our control.’’
Schmirler’s passing had another effect on the remaining team members.
“When Sandra got sick and died, we were treated like we had disappeared as well,’’ McCusker says. “For a long time it was just ‘leave them alone’ and that felt weird too.’’
The remaining members of the Schmirler team continued to curl. They had made plans to compete at the 2001 Canadian Olympic team trials and attempted to do so with Kleibrink at skip.
I remember being very stressed (after the Olympic team trials) because we were involved in a lot of stuff that wasn’t curling prep related. — Jan Betker
“Curling was a big part of who we were and what we did so why wouldn’t we curl?’’ Betker says. “Still, the first year was horrible. We played because we had planned to play together and try again to be the Olympic team. We stayed on that path and what was our plan. It was tough situation to put Shannon Kleibrink in because we recruited her as a skip.’’
After failing to qualify for the trials, Betker, McCusker and Gudereit split with Kleibrink. Her departure led to Betker taking over as skip with Sherry Linton being added as third. Betker, Linton, McCusker and Gudereit won the 2003 Saskatchewan women’s championship and finished fourth at the Canadian women’s championship in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.
Betker and Gudereit later connected with third Lana Vey and second Nancy Inglis to win the 2007 Saskatchewan women’s title en route to a second-place showing at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Lethbridge.
“The first one wasn’t really fun because I wasn’t in a very good headspace and we were going to back to Kitchener where we won with Sandra (in 1994),’’ Betker says. “I felt way too much pressure and didn’t enjoy it at all. In 2007, I thought ‘just go have fun’ and I did. It was probably my last Scotties and I was just going to have fun.’’
Competitive curling has taken a back seat while Betker, McCusker and Gudereit focused on families and careers. They still curled for fun, but even stopped doing that this season because of the conflicts with their schedules.
“I miss it because I miss getting together with the girls,’’ Betker says. “It was just a chance for us to get together, have a few laughs and beers. It wasn’t a curling thing really.’’
Gudereit has moved into the coaching ranks and was a coach of Brecklin Gervais’ team at the 2018 Saskatchewan junior men’s championship.
Betker is an administrator with Laurie Artiss The Pin People.
McCusker is a curling analyst with Sportsnet and CBC and will be in Pyeongchang, South Korea, covering the 2018 Winter Olympics. The curling competition of the Winter Games runs Feb. 8 through Feb. 25.
It will be the fourth time McCusker has covered curling at the Winter Games since winning the gold medal in 1998.
“It doesn’t feel like 20 years,’’ McCusker says. “Everyone will tell you that it goes by fast and we’ve all been darned busy. Does it feel there has been a period of time? Yes. The game has changed a lot and our kids have grown up. We’ve had a lot of time to reflect and even enjoy some of those memories.’’
Betker, McCusker and Gudereit are expecting to deal with their own memories and emotions when the medals are presented in curling at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
“I will probably be crying because I almost always do,’’ Betker says. “It’s because you know the sacrifice to get there and you know what they are experiencing and the pride and joy that they are feeling.’’
McCusker will be battling her emotions when covering the medal ceremonies.
“We’re so genuinely happy for those Canadian teams,’’ McCusker says. “There is a tremendous amount of pressure and I can’t explain how much rides on the backs of those Canadian teams when they are expected win a gold medal. When they come away with a medal of any colour, I’m tremendously proud of them.’’
That pride is another aspect that Gudereit will reflect upon when the medals are presented.
“It’s one of the proudest moments that you can be involved with,’’ Gudereit says. “I know that I will shed some tears because I will remember the joys of us winning. I will also be very proud of them as they represent Canada.’’ mmccormick@postmedia.com twitter.com/murraylp