Technical Revolution: How Canada’s High-Performance Program Rebuilt for Olympic Success
Modern delivery systems, data-driven coaching reshape Canadian curling ahead of Milan 2026
January 31, 2026
Fifteen years after Nolan Thiessen won worlds in Cortina d’Ampezzo as a lead, the now-Curling Canada CEO returns to the Italian venue with a transformed national program. The site of his 2011 championship will host Olympic competition starting Wednesday, but the Canadian teams arriving there look fundamentally different than the one he played on.
The shift centers on technical standardization. Where Thiessen’s squad featured four distinct delivery styles—varied hack positions, slides, and releases—today’s program emphasizes uniformity. When in-turn and out-turn weights diverged, teams compensated with sweeping strategy rather than addressing mechanical root causes.
That approach persisted until David Murdoch’s 2023 appointment to lead high-performance initiatives brought systematic change.
Standardized Systems Replace Individual Approaches
The Scottish multiple-world and Olympic medallist introduced protocols common in European and Asian programs: centralized technical coaching, extensive video analysis, and critically, consistent delivery mechanics across all throwers.
Universal rock positioning at hack center creates predictable stone paths, simplifies ice reading, and improves sweeping effectiveness. Each delivery becomes a learning opportunity, with data informing subsequent shot-making.
“It’s definitely an improvement for us as a nation, and it will continue to pay dividends,” Thiessen said.
The transition challenged ingrained assumptions. Canada’s international record and depth of domestic competition had bred resistance to adopting techniques already driving success for rival nations.
“You get punched in the mouth and you fight back, and that’s really what we’re doing,” Thiessen acknowledged.
Adapting International Training Models
Elite curling nations operate centralized training facilities with daily structured programs for national squads. Murdoch adapted this framework for Canada’s geographic reality and competitive structure through:
- Intensified early-season training camps
- Expanded national coaching access and resources
- Individualized team coach support with data-backed development plans
The model emphasizes continuous learning through Olympic cycles. “It’s easy to say we won or we lost a competition, but actually what did we learn?” Murdoch said.
Strategic Preparation for Milan
Canada’s three Olympic entries reflect tactical adjustments:
Mixed Doubles: Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant were selected a full year early, maximizing preparation time. Competition begins Wednesday, two days before opening ceremonies. Peterman placed fifth at Beijing 2022 with Jennifer Jones; Gallant earned bronze with Brad Gushue. Following mixed doubles, Gallant joins Brad Jacobs’ men’s squad.
Women’s Team: Five-time national champion Rachel Homan bypassed this week’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts for Olympic rest protocols. Her team departs Sunday’s Canadian final in Mississauga for a Brunico, Italy staging camp two days later.
Equipment Optimization: All teams receive specialized mattress toppers—technology borrowed from international cycling—to enhance sleep quality and recovery during competition.
Delivery Mechanics: Center Hack Position
The technical cornerstone involves moving rock placement to hack center—a change Peterman identifies as crucial for international success despite adjustment challenges.
“Honestly, it feels a little bit uncomfortable when you’re first setting up,” she said. “We’re a bit more squished. We have to be very intentional about where we start the rock. As soon as we start the rock in the right spot and we push forward, our body comes right behind the rock and there’s no moving parts. There’s no kind of room for error in terms of lateral movement, and that’s what we’re looking to deliver: the rock on an, ideally, perfectly straight line.”
Mixed doubles coach Scott Pfeifer employs laser alignment systems and three-angle video capture in training, allowing athletes to correlate physical sensation with visual feedback and make precise corrections.
Peterman’s women’s squad under skip Kaitlyn Lawes implemented the change three years ago; Gallant’s team transitioned last season. Years of muscle memory require significant retraining periods.
“There’s a period of time where you feel a bit naked out there and you’re like: I think I know where this is going, but it’s not second nature yet and I still have to focus on it,” Gallant said.
He framed the evolution as essential: “Canadian curling athletes have had to adopt a growth mindset over the last four, six, 10 years because the world has gotten so talented and so deep. We’ve had to start looking for ways to get one per cent better.”
Performance Philosophy
Murdoch defines championship-level execution through consistency: “There is no circumventing that. The key to high-level performance teams is just real consistency: the same slide, same release, same delivery, same communications, very clear strategies. So when you tie that all together, that’s an Olympic gold medal-winning team.”
Historical Context
Canada’s Olympic drought extends beyond recent cycles. The nation last captured men’s or women’s gold in Sochi 2014, when Brad Jacobs and Jennifer Jones both won. Mixed doubles delivered its sole medal—gold—at the discipline’s 2018 PyeongChang debut.
Jacobs, competing in his second Olympics, characterized his 2014 victory as “the hardest bonspiel ever. It really was, and that’s when the teams weren’t quite as good as they are now. So, I expect this Olympics to be even more difficult and probably the hardest event that we may ever play in our lives. And you know what? We wouldn’t want it any other way, because the harder it is, if you can come through and if you can win, the sweeter victory feels.”
The sport’s global expansion—from six World Curling Federation founders six decades ago to 76 member nations today—intensifies competitive depth. What began in Montreal in 1807 with Scottish immigrants, appeared at the inaugural 1924 Winter Olympics, and returned to Olympic programming in 1998 at Nagano now represents truly international competition.
Canada’s technical modernization arrives as the sport demands it most.
