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The lights went out at the Olympic curling venue before Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman powered their way to a near-flawless 10-5 victory over Czechia on the opening day of mixed doubles competition on Wednesday in Italy.
The first of Canada’s 207 athletes in action at the Winter Games, they stole a point in the first end against Julie Zelingrova and Vit Chabicovsky, added a steal of four in the second and never looked back.
Trailing 5-0, Czechia closed to within two points in the third end, but Gallant and Peterman regained their four-point advantage in the fourth.
With Canada leading 7-3, Czechia scored a single in the fifth end with the hammer. However, Gallant and Peterman answered, pulling away with three points in the sixth end.
Officials briefly paused the matches at the historic Cortina Olympic Stadium when the lights dimmed and flickered. Curlers kept sliding on the ice to stay ready. Fans cheered when the bright lights came back shortly after and competition resumed.
Canada returns to the ice Thursday against Norway at 8:35 a.m. ET.
Gallant and Peterman, the first athletes named to Canada’s Olympic team, secured Canada’s spot in the Olympic tournament with a sixth-place finish at mixed doubles worlds in Fredericton last May. Four months earlier, the married couple from Chestermere, Alta., went undefeated to win at the Canadian mixed doubles trials.
Gallant and Peterman will try to earn Canada its second medal in the event. John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes won 2018 gold in the Games debut of mixed doubles in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Four years later, Rachel Homan and Morris were fifth in Beijing.
Gallant will also make history at these Games when he becomes the first Canadian curler to compete in two disciplines at the same Winter Games. The five-time Brier champion will join his men’s squad skipped by Brad Jacobs after the completion of mixed doubles on Feb. 10.
Canada has won 12 medals, including six gold, since curling officially returned to the Olympic program at the 1998 Nagano Games.