Experienced Canadian curling teams will aim to end Olympic gold drought at Milan Cortina

There won't be Olympic stage fright for members of the Canadian curling teams at the Milan Cortina Games in February.

The presence of the five Olympic rings can be unnerving for some athletes, especially those competing under the sporting world's biggest spotlight for the first time.

All three Canadian sides — the men's, women's and mixed doubles teams — are loaded with experience.

Three of four members of the men's squad skipped by Brad Jacobs have previously won Olympic gold and the other has earned bronze.

"They're just such pros at everything they do," said Tyler Tardi, who will serve as the team alternate at the Games. "The way they prepare, the way they practise, the way they treat each other.

"It's just the most professional team I've ever seen in every aspect of the game."

Women's skip Rachel Homan will make her third straight Olympic appearance. Team second Emma Miskew is back for a second time.

Brett Gallant will throw second stones for Jacobs and also play mixed doubles with partner Jocelyn Peterman, who was on the Jennifer Jones team that played at the Beijing Games four years ago.

A trials and pre-trials process that included 30 men's and women's teams produced Canadian representatives, who are expected to be among the contenders at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.

"The reality here is we've got three really strong teams who have got experience but are also at the top of their game," said Curling Canada high-performance director David Murdoch.

Team Jacobs lead Ben Hebert and vice Marc Kennedy won Olympic gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games with skip Kevin Martin.

Jacobs skipped a different team to Olympic gold in 2014 at Sochi, Russia. Hebert and Kennedy returned to the Olympics with skip Kevin Koe at the