In Newfoundland and Labrador, an Olympic curling bronze is still golden

With the sun not yet up over the Gushue family home in St. John's on Friday morning, some of Team Gushue's biggest supporters watched the Olympic bronze-medal game with hearts overflowing with pride.

Krista Gushue's eyes filled up a little as she talked about what her husband, Brad Gushue, said to her following Friday's win.

"The first thing he asked was, were the kids proud of him? Were they excited when he won?" she told CBC News.  

"That broke my heart because I know when they lost the game [against Sweden] Thursday, he felt like he let us down and he let the country down. I know it was really hard on him."

But he didn't have to wait long for his answer.

"Everyone started crying once he won," said his 10-year-old daughter Marissa.

This Olympic medal comes 16 years after the fresh-faced 20-somethings captured gold for Canada at the 2006 Olympics in Italy.

This year's medal wasn't the result the team had hoped for. But in the end, Team Gushue added another piece of hardware to its trophy case: something the family refuses to scoff at. 

"A bronze medal at the Olympics is an amazing achievement," Krista Gushue said. 

Because of the pandemic, Brad Gushue's wife, children, parents and sister didn't get the chance to see him perform in person, but watching it on television was the next best thing, they said.

Under an array of colourful Olympic rings made of balloons that hung in the Gushue home, the family crowded together in the middle of the night, glued to the screen.

"We celebrated and we hugged and cried, just the same as if it was a gold medal game," said Krista.

• They can't be in Beijing but the unofficial members of Team Gushue are cheering with pride from home

Sleep has been something hard to come by for the Gushue family watching from home. But they wouldn't have it any other way. 

"It's super-cool," said Gushue's eldest daughter, Hayley.

Hayley is a curler as well, and much like her father, she didn't feel any stress in the tense moments.

Not far from the Gushue residence, on the lower shelf of a trophy case at the Remax Centre, sits a pair of mounted shoes a young Brad Gushue wore when he took home the World Junior title in 2001. 

Just steps away is the ice Team Gushue calls home, a surface maintained by the St. John's Curling Club's general manager, Harold Walters. 

He said he's proud of what the local team accomplished on one of the biggest stages for the sport.

"It's a big deal for curling in Canada, first of all, because we finally medal at the Olympics again," he said.

"I'm delighted to have a two-time Olympic medallist at this club. It's just fabulous for us."

Little St. John's getting two medals. It's awesome.- Harold Walters

In 2006 the Remax Centre was shoulder to shoulder for the gold-medal game. A lot has changed since then, including COVID-19, preventing any partying from happening at the curling club this time.

But the love and support on home ice was still there. 

"From a club perspective, and an icemaker perspective, they worked so hard here for the past while," he said.

"Little St. John's getting two medals. It's awesome."

The hope is that this showing in Beijing could inspire other young folks in the province to pick up the sport. 

"I expect if it weren't a COVID year, we could attract some new curlers right now," he said. "We've already got a little bit of uptake in our kids' program already because of it."

Back at the Gushue homestead, the family awaits their Olympic medallist's return from Asia with his newest prize in hand.

That prospect has left Krista Gushue joking about her daughters. 

"Now there's one medal for each of them," she laughs.

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