Canada's path to the gold medal in men's curling at the Beijing Olympics

A lot has changed in curling since Brad Gushue’s first appearance at the Olympics in 2006.

The curling world has improved tremendously, for one. There’s more focus on strength and conditioning, for another.

What hasn’t changed is that the St. John’s native is still a top contender every time he steps on the pebbled ice. This won’t be any different when the first rocks fly at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing.

Both in their mid-20s at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, Gushue and third Mark Nichols, alongside Russ Howard and Jamie Korab, captured gold. Now, at 41 and 42, respectively, Gushue and Nichols are making their return to the biggest stage in sports, this time with the front-end duo of Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker. Sixteen years may seem like a long time when it comes to an athlete’s peak performance, but both are still at the top of their game.

What has changed for Gushue, however, is his experience leading up to the Olympics.

“It's night and day, to be quite honest,” said Gushue in a recent media availability. “I think our preparation in 2006 was very chaotic, very busy with different appearances, events, a lot of activities that we had. We actually went into that and were quite tired out mentally, physically and this time around, we've been here in the house for almost three weeks. And outside of our time that we go to practice, there's a lot of time to rest and a lot of time to do nothing, to be quite honest.”

TSN's Bob Weeks gets you set for the curling in Beijing 2022 as he makes his podium picks for both men's and women's curling.

In the lead up to their departure, the foursome as well as team members Marc Kennedy, Jules Owchar and Jeff Thomas, have been living together at a rental house in