On the rebound
Lawes hopeful of adding another gold to already impressive collection
NORTH BAY, Ont. — Kaitlyn Lawes probably burned her 2017 calendar, at least the last page.
But 2018? So far, it’s a keeper.
“The Olympics and the worlds in one year? I mean, that’s insane,” the delightful third for Jennifer Jones said at North Bay’s Memorial Gardens, scene of the World Women’s Curling Championship. “I’m really grateful, and really just trying to soak it all in.”
Lawes and the rest of Team Jones were really disappointed three months ago when their loss to Rachel Homan in the semifinal of the Olympic trials meant they wouldn’t be going to Pyeongchang to defend the gold medal they won at the Sochi Games.
Lawes, however, didn’t stay down for long.
Four weeks later, at the inaugural mixed doubles trials in Portage la Prairie, she combined with John Morris to defeat Val Sweeting and Brad Gushue in the finals to earn the trip to South Korea they thought had escaped them. From there, they emerged triumphant, becoming the lone Canadian curlers to own two Olympic golds.
Lawes is the only curler to pick up the most brilliant of medals in back-to-back Games.
“The experience at the mixed doubles was just unique in a sense where we felt like our Olympic dream this year was over, but we had a second chance,” she said. “To be able to overcome that mental battle of having that low after the trials in December with the girls, and being able to bounce back from that and be a part of something for a first time was so special.
“To be able to showcase mixed doubles, I’m so proud of how we handled ourselves out there. Hopefully everyone had fun watching us.”
Because Lawes had a lot while playing the new, twoperson game.
“I love it, I absolutely love it,” she said of mixed doubles. “It’s a challenge, and I love that it’s fast paced, high scoring and you’re never out of it.
“You feel vulnerable out there, because if you miss a shot the other team can take advantage of it that much more. There’s only two people out there, so it can get a little bit lonely, but it really just makes you challenge yourself to be present and try and forget about some of those misses that you had. I love it. It’s just so much fun.” And she hopes it catches on. “Honestly, I think it’s great for developing countries with curling,” said Lawes. “You only need two athletes instead of four. I think it’s something clubs can pick up as well. And it’s very social. Even if it’s just doubles, it can help get some new members in the clubs. I think people will have a lot of fun playing it.”
Lawes has also had a blast rejoining her women’s team, which won the Scotties with Shannon Birchard filling in for her while she was preparing for Pyeongchang. A 3-0 bolt from the gate in the Gateway of the North included Sunday night’s 8-1 win over Germany which was over after six and spearheaded by a four in the fifth end.
Canada has now erupted for three, four-point ends and two, three-point ends to date.
“We’re always looking to see if we can score multiple end,” said Jones. “This one was a little bit fortunate. We got a pretty big mess out of them, in order to make the split for four, but we always try to leave those little rocks around to see if we can create any offence.”
Two of the three Canadian games have ended prematurely, without any last end pressure. Could that be a concern when the going promises to get tougher later this week.
Jones thinks not. “This one was really close until we got that fortunate steal (of two) in the sixth end,” she said. “It’s nice to have a couple of quick games ... you’re never going to not want those. If you had to go 10ends, we try to train to make sure we’re going to be in good enough shape at the end of the week.
Meanwhile, getting back into the traditional game caused no major adjustment for Lawes, nor did sliding back into her familiar three-spot in the batting order.
“Well, it’s been eight, great amazing years with these ladies, so I hope that it
wouldn’t be too challenging, after missing one event,” she said. “They make it easy. They’re so incredible, they’re amazing teammates. They’re my girls. I’m so happy to be back with them.”
A win here this week and Lawes might have to get a gold frame for her 2018 calendar.