Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based team have punched their tickets to Italy.
Homan will represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics after defeating hometown heroes Team Christina Black 12-3 on Saturday during Game 2 of the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials women's final at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre.
It'll be Homan's third consecutive trip to the Winter Olympics after competing in the women's tournament in 2018 and mixed doubles in 2022. Second Emma Miskew is the only holdover from Homan's 2018 club that finished sixth in Pyeongchang, with third Tracy Fleury and lead Sarah Wilkes set to make their Olympic debuts.
Canada hasn't medalled in the women's tournament since Jennifer Jones skipped her squad to gold at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Jones finished fifth at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, missing out on the playoffs after a tie in the standings came down to the draw shot challenge.
The two-time reigning Canadian and world champion Homan swept the best-of-three series, holding for a 5-4 victory over Black on Friday.
Game 1 was all binary code with only ones and zeroes on the scoreboard. Homan ensured that wouldn't happen in Game 2, drawing for a deuce out of the gate.
Black took two points right back in the second, but she was heavy on her freeze in the third, opening the door for Homan to take complete control. Already sitting two, Homan tapped her shot rock that then bumped Black's rock to score four.
Miskew's sweeping was key to holding it on that shot as well as Homan's first skip stone in the fourth, delivering a hit and roll to sit two. Homan nestled in for the shot rock on her last that held up for a stolen point, and a 7-2 lead, as Black attempted a runback for a potential two points that missed the mark.
When it rains, it pours. Homan continued to apply the pressure, sitting five counters in the fifth, and stole two of them to take a commanding 9-2 advantage into the break as Black's draw was heavy.
Black had to settle for a single in the sixth, and Homan hit for two more points in the seventh to make it 11-3.
The capacity crowd continued to cheer for Black as she prepared for her final shot of the eighth end that slipped a little deep to concede another point and out came the handshakes.
Team Homan curled 91 per cent in the game, with the skip herself practically perfect, firing at 95 per cent. Team Black shot 77 per cent, with Black at 58 per cent.
