Team Canada Sochi 2014 Blog: Jennifer Jones

By Jennifer Jones (Team Canada skip) — The game has been over for a couple of hours now and I still can’t believe it when I hear the words “Olympic Champion.”
Team Canada, from left, Kirsten Wall, Dawn McEwen, Jill Officer, Kaitlyn Lawes and Jennifer Jones celebrate their gold medal. (Photos, CCA/Michael Burns)

Team Canada, from left, Kirsten Wall, Dawn McEwen, Jill Officer, Kaitlyn Lawes and Jennifer Jones celebrate their gold medal. (Photos, CCA/Michael Burns)

The whole night was just amazing. We had to play a very tough team to Sweden, and I have all the respect in the world for them. They gave us all we could handle, but the girls came up big tonight when we really needed it. I am so thankful to have amazing teammates like Kaitlyn, Jill and Dawn. They made it so easy for me this week, and I can’t imagine sharing this experience with anybody else but them.
Team Canada skip Jennifer Jones.

Team Canada skip Jennifer Jones.

Having Kirsten here was special, too. She joined us when I was pregnant with Isabella and just fit right in. She was so amazing for us here, making sure that every need was taken care of. I’m so happy she was able to share this night with us. I really can’t say enough about our coaches. Elaine has worked with us before at the world championships, and she is amazing at what she does for our national team program. And Janet — well, what can I say? She has been a part of our team since the beginning. She is a coach and she is a friend, and there is no way we could have achieved what we’ve achieved without her. Winning a gold medal at the Olympics takes so much time, so much hard work and so much sacrifice, and so much support from your friends and family. I couldn’t wait to hug Brent tonight at Canada Olympic House. The same goes for my parents Larry and Carol. I threw so many practice rocks with my dad — when I threw my last shot tonight, it was almost like he was at the other end holding the broom for me. It felt so unreal to see the rock go down the ice and know what we finally accomplished.
The whole team gets involved on a shot during Thursday's gold-medal game.

The whole team gets involved on a shot during Thursday’s gold-medal game.

We have a couple of days to wait before we get our gold medals on Saturday night, and we can hardly wait to hear that Canadian anthem! And while I really want to savour the next few days, including the closing ceremonies on Sunday night, I can hardly wait to get on the plane Monday to see Isabella! Our curling is done now, but we’ll still be busy! There are a whole bunch of media interviews to do tomorrow, and then we’ll be cheering for Brad and the boys when they go for the gold medal against Great Britain at 8:30 a.m. on CBC. Hoping we can make it double gold for the Canadian curling teams for the first time ever! I really want to thank all of the curling fans across Canada. We’ve felt your support ever since we landed in Sochi two weeks ago. We couldn’t have done it without you, and we’re sharing these gold medals with you! (This is part of our series of athlete blogs from the Winter Olympics in Sochi; this story will be posted in French at www.curling.ca/fr/ as soon as possible)