Gold medallist Gushue's path back to Olympics hasn't always been smooth

When Brad Gushue made his Olympic debut 16 years ago, it was one of the bigger surprises in Canadian curling.

The 25-year-old from St. John's wasn't expected to win the Canadian Olympic trials that year.

The team had brought on then 50-year-old curling legend Russ Howard to add some experience to the lineup, but expectations were certainly tempered.

Going up against curling juggernauts like Randy Ferbey, Glenn Howard, Kevin Martin and Jeff Stoughton, Gushue was hoping to win a few games. But the team from Newfoundland and Labrador got on a roll in Halifax in December 2005, earning its way to the 2006 Games.

Despite facing adversity, including horrible ice conditions and sickness throughout the week, Gushue, Howard, third Mark Nichols and lead Jamie Korab persevered.

They defeated Finland in the final to secure Canada's first gold medal in men's curling at the Olympics. Their victory set off parties for months all across Newfoundland and Labrador.

All these years later Gushue, now 41, makes his Olympic return. The lineup, no doubt, is different.

Nichols will be beside Gushue in house once again, but first-time Olympians Geoff Walker and Brett Gallant make up the front end this time around.

The team left Newfoundland and Labrador and flew to Vancouver to isolate three weeks before leaving for Beijing. They didn't want to take any chances of posting a positive COVID-19 test. Team Gushue arrived at the Olympics on Saturday, four days before their opening game.

It's been a long and winding journey for Gushue to get back to the Games, and it's been anything but smooth.

But that wasn't the case. In fact, it wasn't until the 2017 Brier in his hometown Gushue would win another major curling event. He's done a lot a winning since