Homan rink still basking in golden glow
Rachel Homan and Joanne Courtney had been tipped off. There would be a significant representation of Edmonton media waiting for them when they climbed off the final leg of the flight from Beijing here Monday.
“We were warned,” said Courtney. “I put on my best headband.”
“It was hard to tell how big it was. I didn’t have Twitter or anything on my phone. We arrived in Vancouver to an enormous outpouring of support and now this.
“It feels incredible. It was a dream come true to win the Scotties and then a whirlwind to get ready for Worlds. I’m just so proud of the team. We have lots to build on now and it’s hard to wrap my mind around this feeling. To be able to call ourselves world women’s curling champions is something that’s pretty hard to describe,” said the Edmonton registered nurse who topped the percentage tables for seconds at the event.”
Homan, who in September married Shawn Germain, an Edmontonian who played five seasons of pro hockey in the ECHL and a year in Europe, has been combining U of Alberta student life and married life here while still being officially based out of Ottawa wasn’t really expecting it either. But what the team accomplished in the middle of the night Sunday in China was no normal Canada-wins-something-in-curling sort of story.
The two and teammates Lisa Weagle and Emma Miskew became the first team in the 39-year history of the women’s worlds to go unbeaten, start to finish, to win a gold medal. The team also became the first Canadian women’s team to win the Worlds since Jennifer Jones in 2008. Homan, 27, is a former Canadian junior champion and three-time Scotties champion but winning in Beijing was her first international title.