Canada’s Brad Gushue will draw the curtain on his competitive curling career at the end of this season.
The 45-year-old two-time Olympic medallist announced his retirement in a video on social media on Wednesday (17 September).
“Years ago, I created a list of goals I wanted to achieve. And I feel like I’m among the lucky few who can say they’ve achieved them. That’s given me the confidence to make this decision now,” he said.
“This has not been an easy decision. I love curling. It’s been my passion since I first stepped on the ice and played my first end. I’ve struggled with leaving it all behind. I’ll miss it more than I can express.
“But there’s a season ahead of us. Our team is ready to go, and we’re ready to leave it all on the ice.”
Gushue will enter his final competitive season on pebbled ice backed by an impressive career, including two Olympic medals, one world title, four world silver medals and six national titles.
His victory at the Turin 2006 marked Canada’s first-ever gold in men’s curling, and heralded the start of a golden age for the sport’s powerhouse nation, with back-to-back golds for the country coming at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.
Gushue himself would have to wait 16 years before making an Olympic comeback, winning the right to represent Canada again at Beijing 2022. There, he would earn a bronze and a second piece of Olympic hardware.
The celebrated skip will now have one more chance to go to the Games, having qualified his team to compete at this year’s Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Halifax in November, notably the same place he earned his first Olympic berth as a 25-year-old.