BEIJING 鈥� There was no wide-eyed glance around the venue, no expression of wonderment at the Olympic rings.
Canada's Brad Gushue walked with purpose upon arrival at the Ice Cube on Wednesday, offered a firm nod to some familiar faces in the stands and got down to work.聽
A champion at the 2006 Turin Games, Gushue returns to the Olympics in Beijing with a steely determination to get back to the top of the podium.
"That's why he's our skip," said vice Mark Nichols. "He's got the bigger goal in mind."
Gushue, Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker opened round-robin play in the evening with a 10-5 victory over Denmark's Mikkel Krause.
After mixed doubles opened the Olympic schedule, the spotlight has shifted to traditional four-player team curling.
Gushue's rink and the Canadian women's team skipped by Jennifer Jones had one-hour practice sessions earlier in the day for the first time since their arrival in China.聽
Canada is expected to be a contender in each 10-team competition.聽
Great Britain's Bruce Mouat, Sweden's Niklas Edin, Switzerland's Peter de Cruz and defending champion John Shuster of the United States are some of the big names in the men's draw.
鈥淲e used to think if we just turned up and played OK then we'd make the playoffs," Gushue said. "But now every game is tough."
The women's field is arguably even stronger.聽
In addition to Jones and South Korea's Kim EunJung, defending champ Anna Hasselborg of Sweden, Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni, Great Britain's Eve Muirhead and Japan's Fujisawa Satsuki are some of the teams with podium potential.
"It's a tremendous field," Jones said. "All the top teams from around the world are here.聽
"We know that we're going to have to play our very best to make it into the semifinals and that's our goal right now."
Jones begins play Thursday evening against Kim.
John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes won mixed doubles gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games but Canada did not reach the podium in either team event.聽
Morris returned to these Games with Rachel Homan but missed the playoffs. Canada was also shut out of the medals at last season's world championships for the first time.
"I don't feel pressure, I feel privilege," Jones said. "How lucky we are to be able to put this jacket on and have your name above the Maple Leaf."
The top four teams in each draw will advance to the semifinals next week. Winners will play for gold and losing teams will meet for bronze.
"We've just got to make sure we don't have those screws come loose," Nichols said of his team's approach to round-robin play. "Nice and tight, be precise and just try to make a lot of shots.聽
"If we put pressure on other teams, I like our chances."
After giving up an early deuce in the opening session, Gushue took hammer in the third and made a draw for three.聽
Krause, who won a world junior title in 2009, missed a raise-double attempt in the sixth end that gave Canada a steal of two. The teams shook hands after Canada scored three in the eighth.
"Quite happy with the performance to be honest," Gushue said. "A little bit nervous starting out and getting your feet wet out there. I thought we did pretty good."
Sweden opened with a 6-4 victory over China's Ma Xiuyue and Norway's Steffen Walstad topped Switzerland 7-4. The United States needed an extra end to complete a 6-5 win over Russia's Sergey Glukhov.
The men's final is set for Feb. 19. The women's final will be played Feb. 20 on the last day of the Games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2022.聽
Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
