HALIFAX — Twelve years after he won Olympic gold, Brad Jacobs is headed back to the Winter Games, this time leading a veteran Alberta squad that will all be making return trips to the biggest stage.
On Saturday night, Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert battled their way to an eighth straight victory at the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials to punch a ticket to Milano Cortina 2026.
The world No. 3, Team Jacobs took out Canada’s top-ranked Matt Dunstone in two straight games in the best-of-three finals series, the latest a 6-5 win that came down to the final shot in front of a packed crowd at Scotiabank Centre.
This showdown between the top two teams in the country was all tied up until the seventh end, when Jacobs made a double takeout with his last to take a 5-3 lead. The skipper from Sault Ste. Marie followed that up in eight with another double takeout to sit three, forcing Dunstone to draw for a single.
In nine, Dunstone made a great takeout with his last to sit two, and Jacobs gave up a single to carry the hammer into the final end with the game tied, 5-5.
In that last end, Jacobs was forced to make a takeout and stick for the win, and he nailed it. Then the 40-year-old threw his broom to the ice before wrapping all his teammates in hugs and throwing both arms in the air while he looked into the crowd.
Milano Cortina will mark a second Olympic experience for Jacobs, who won gold in 2014. It’ll be a fourth for Kennedy and third for Hebert; both won gold in 2010 with skip Kevin Martin and returned in 2018 with Kevin Koe. Kennedy was also an alternate on the Brad Gushue team that won bronze four years ago, with Gallant on the front end. Gallant had already punched a ticket to Milano-Cortina: He’s also competing in mixed doubles with his wife, Jocelyn Peterman.
After losing the round robin opener to Kevin Koe, Team Jacobs was perfect. For Dunstone, the world No. 2 team that advanced to every Grand Slam final this season and came in as the favourite, it’s the first time they’ve dropped three straight games this season, losing their round robin finale and the first two of the finals series.
This Team Jacobs got together after the 2024 Grand Slam season with this goal in mind, and the win here comes four years after Jacobs lost in the Trials final to Brad Gushue by a single point.
