Jacobs and Shuster: Olympic Dreams drive curling’s biggest names

As significant as the United States Steel Pan Continental Curling Championships are — for both the athletes competing and for the local community rallying behind them — one event looms even larger on the horizon: the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, set for next February.

For many athletes in Virginia, Olympic dreams are very much still alive. Some already know they will be there, and many others hoping they will be there, as national trials and qualification events draw nearer.

Among those hopefuls are two men who know exactly what it takes to reach the pinnacle of their sport: Olympic gold medal skips John Shuster (United States, 2018) and Brad Jacobs (Canada, 2014).

Life as an Olympic Champion

John Shuster said, “2018 changed my life. The way that we got together and performed changed my life.”

John Shuster Olympic Winter Games 2018 © World Curling / Richard Gray

“I’m a new person — I have things that I do better now than I did in the past. It’s been really fun in curling, and life’s been fun too. “

Brad Jacobs echoes that sentiment: “I think I’m different as Olympic champion. I was 28 years old in 2014. We were young and hungry — wanted to win and worked hard. It was pretty intense and we were very emotional. I’m very much a different person now and I like to think that I’ve grown a lot as a person.”

Team Jacobs at the Olympic Winter Games 2014 © World Curling / Richard Gray

Brad also reflects on his experiences in the wake of his golden win.

“As Olympic champion, I got to travel and see a lot of great places. Got to meet lots of really great people. It also gave me a lot of confidence and belief that we could stick around in the sport at the highest level for a long time.”

John agreed, “We’ve got to do a lot of crazy things that I would never have had a chance to do if I wasn’t Olympic champion, like special seats at major sporting events and that kind of thing. I like those perks more for my family than I do for me.”

Countdown to Olympic trials

Both men are now deep in preparation for their respective national trials next month.

John said, “We circled the Olympic trials on our calendars as soon as we saw the date, and we want to be playing the way we want to be coming into the trials. We want to be in the position to be at the top of our game.”

Jacobs is equally as determined as he too faces a winner-takes-all final national selection trial. With family ties in northern Italy, the motivation is personal, “We’d love to be there in Italy. It’d be really special.”

Still, he looks back fondly on his previous experience at the Sochi games: “It’s going to be hard to beat 2014. Russia did a great job in hosting — the set-up, the coastal village, the proximity — and getting our families there too was special.”

Curling always enjoys a surge of publicity when the Olympic Winter Games come around, with national federations and clubs using the moment to recruit new players and grow the sport.

Whether John and Brad will once again be among the Olympic heroes will soon be decided.