Married couple Jennifer Jones, Brent Laing to make world mixed doubles curling debut

Steeped in international curling experience, Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing are about to embark on something new.

The couple have a combined nine national championships, five world titles, three Olympic appearances and an Olympic gold medal between them in men's and women's team curling.

The husband and wife duo will represent Canada for the first time at the world mixed doubles championship in an arena that elicits mixed emotions for both.

"We are rookies at the world mixed doubles, no question, but I think we can draw on all our other experiences in four-person play for sure," Laing said.

Jones and Laing from Horseshoe Valley, Ont., open the 20-country championship Saturday morning (Friday evening ET) in Gangneung, South Korea, against 2021 champions Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds of Scotland.

"Brent and I, we've put a lot of work into this the last few years," Jones said. "Really tried to play as much as we can while balancing the four-person teams.

"You see some married couples don't continue to play mixed doubles. We've lasted awhile. One of the best parts about it is, Brent always has my back. He's my partner in life and my partner on the ice.

"I think there's a lot of benefits to it. You're also a lot more free to talk the way you want to talk because it's also your partner. One thing we've worked on is what we need to hear and how we want to say it."

WATCH | Jones, Laing on being married and playing mixed doubles:

The two want to create winning curling memories at Gangneung Curling Centre.

Laing played second for Kevin Koe's team that lost the Olympic men's bronze-medal game there in 2018.

"There's some scar tissue, no question," Laing said.

Jones also finished fourth at the 2009 women's world curling