Sudbury curler Tracy Fleury falls short in Olympic bid
Jennifer Jones defeated Tracy Fleury 6-5 in the women’s final at Canada’s Olympic curling trials to secure a berth at the Beijing Games.
Fleury rubbed a guard on her final throw in the extra end to give Jones the steal and the victory.
The dramatic finish came after a stunning Jones miss in the 10th end. Down one with hammer coming home, Jones had an open takeout for the win but only scored a single when her stone rolled out.
Jones and her team of Kaitlyn Lawes, Jocelyn Peterman, Dawn McEwen and Lisa Weagle entered the showdown of Manitoba-based teams with a big edge in experience.
Jones won Olympic gold at the 2014 Sochi Games and has won six national women’s titles.
Fleury, meanwhile, and her side of Selena Njegovan, Liz Fyfe and Kristin MacCuish, were making their first appearance in a final.
Early jitters seemed to be a factor.
Rollouts were common in the first end and Jones put early pressure on to generate a quick steal. Jones buried a draw to force Fleury to tap but she rubbed her own stone and rolled off.
Njegovan’s numbers were low in the early going. The vice-skip moved two of her own stones on a runback attempt in the second end but her side recovered for a single.
Jones made some mistakes too as she sent a draw through the rings in the third end, eventually settling for a hit for two.
Fleury responded with a pair of her own and Lawes came through in the fifth end with a brilliant triple-takeout that set up a blank.
The top-ranked Fleury team wasn’t nearly as dominant as they were throughout most of round-robin play at SaskTel Centre.
Her perfect 8-0 mark gave her the first seed and an off-day ahead of the final. Jones was 5-3 in round-robin play and defeated Krista McCarville in the semifinal on Saturday.
Jones gave away another point in the sixth end when her draw rubbed the shot stone and settled on the edge of the four-foot ring. A measure confirmed a single instead of a pair, giving her a 4-3 lead.
In the eighth end, Fleury looked to set up a force but Jones made a hit and rolled under cover to save the blank.
Njegovan stepped up her game in the second half. She made two excellent taps in a crowded house in the ninth end that forced Jones to call a timeout.
Fleury followed with two decent draws and Jones decided to give up a single to keep hammer for the 10th end.
Kevin Koe and Rachel Homan skipped the Canadian team entries at the 2018 Winter Games but both missed the podium.
Lawes and John Morris won the mixed doubles title in the discipline’s Olympic debut that year in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
The Beijing Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 4-20.
The Canadian mixed doubles trials are set for Dec. 28-Jan. 2 in Portage la Prairie, Man.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Police investigating shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Quebec to limit sperm donations per donor after 3 men from same family father hundreds of children
Quebec is looking at tightening the regulations around sperm donation in the province following the release of a documentary that revealed three men from the same family fathered hundreds of children.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.
Highlights from the 2024 Met Gala exhibit: Sleeping Beauty would wake up for these gowns
Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.