Confident curlers Peterman & Gallant ready to seize the moment at Milano Cortina 2026
It’s been a decade of planning, training, and evolving on and off the ice for Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant and now, finally, it’s showtime.
Since 2016, when their lives began changing from friendly curlers to husband and wife then mom and dad, the two have been preparing for this moment: their opportunity to compete as teammates in the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Not just compete but challenge the world’s best for the mixed doubles curling medals.
“We’re prepared, ready to go, we’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time,” Gallant said in a recent media call. “So, it’s just about seizing the moment now. We’re just excited to get started.
“It’s just this feeling of, let’s go. Let’s go get them and let’s just show the world who we are.”
READ: What you need to know about curling at Milano Cortina 2026
Peterman and Gallant have competed in the Games before (Beijing 2022) but on four-person teams: Peterman as a member of the Jennifer Jones team that failed to make the playoffs; and Gallant as second for the Brad Gushue foursome that won a bronze medal.
Now it’s their time in the spotlight, with Canadian curling fans focused only on them for six days in Cortina, February 4-10, before the four-player teams begin play on February 11. It is, say the two of them, something they’ve being aiming for since they first got together to play mixed doubles back in 2016.
“It’s really been a goal of ours to compete at the Olympics since day one of curling together,” said Gallant. “That’s kind of when our relationship as a couple began as well, when we started competing together.”
The pair won the Canadian mixed doubles championship in 2016, finished third at the trials for the 2018 Olympic Games, won silver at the 2019 World Championship, and finished sixth in the worlds in 2025 to qualify Canada—and themselves—for Milano Cortina 2026. The Olympic spot was theirs for the taking after they went unbeaten at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials last January.
“To earn that right to go to the Olympics together, that was a major goal of ours that we’ve been working towards for nine, 10 years,” said Gallant. “So, it’s pretty special that we can go to the Games together with our families. There’s lot of athletes who would be dying to be in our shoes.
“That we get to do it together, create these memories and share these memories as a family, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Peterman said it’s especially gratifying “as a couple and in a relationship, becoming parents together and it’s special to think about that and how much we’ve been through together and how much we’ve supported each other through, you know, life changes and a lot of things. So, to have the background and that amount of love and support in our relationship on and off the ice, it’s special to have the bond.”
That bond is as important before and after competitions as it is on the ice when tensions are high, the stress level is elevated, and where communication is essential, especially after missed shots.
“It’s something we’re always working on and we’re talking about,” said Peterman. “There’s only five rocks each end so that bad place can’t last too long or it can really spiral. So, we’ve been really working on that … because fairly often we are making some pretty good shots and it’s easy to focus on that one you missed. In mixed doubles [opponents] pounce all over it, so it’s really important for us to think about all the things we’re doing well and how we can carry that forward and making a point of talking about that and celebrating that.”
Peterman said the pair have excellent balance in their lives, knowing how to deal with the on-ice situations as they arise and understanding the importance of not letting the game interfere with their family life.
“Brett is very good at parking a winner, or a loss, and being very present,” she said. “He works on that, but he’s always been excellent at that. I think that’s why we have such good balance. As much as we’re a curling couple, when it’s not time to have a pre-game or post-game meeting or when we’re not at a competition, we’re just enjoying each other’s company and every aspect of who we are outside of curling. That is why we’re able to commit so much of our lives to it, because it’s not all consuming.”
In Italy they will have plenty of family, including son Luke, who turns three in May, to take their minds off the Olympic pressures. Once in the rink, the support of coach Laine Peters and national team coach Scott Pfeifer has the pair in the right frame of mind.
“It’s crazy when you think about, you know, how confident we feel, and that’s because of the support we have,” explained Peterman.
Peterman and Gallant open their Olympic schedule February 4 against Julie Zelingrová and Vít Chabičovský of Czechia. They play the defending Olympic champions, host nation favourites Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, the following day. The 10-team competition will see every team play each other in a round robin. The top four teams advance to the semifinals on February 9. The medal games are set for February 10.