CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – Seated on a long TV camera stand above Sheet B at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, Heather Nedohin juggles a stopwatch, pen, notepad, binoculars and her phone while watching Rachel Homan’s team play below.
Only two coaches are allowed on the bench at the Olympics. National coach Viktor Kjell and analytics lead Renee Sonnenberg sit beside alternate Rachelle Brown at ice level while Nedohin – who has coached the Ottawa-based team this season – must sit elsewhere.
That’s fine by Nedohin, who’s happy to do her part to help get the world’s top-ranked women’s team – currently 1-3 in round-robin play – on the podium.
“When you look at who’s on the bench right now, they’ve got the most Olympic background,” Nedohin said Saturday. “I’m the rookie here. So this is my first time at the big stage and I think the bench is strong with the lineup.
“(It’s) what (the team) is used to, what they’re comfortable with and what they are looking for. I love what I see on the bench and so do they.”
Homan opened the competition with a comfortable victory over Denmark before an upset loss to American Tabitha Peterson. On Saturday morning, Great Britain’s Sophie Jackson scored three points in the third end and held on for a 7-6 win over Canada.
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“I just didn’t make as many shots as I normally do out there,” Homan said.
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Canada caught a tough break in the third end when Fleury’s stone picked. Homan tried to recover but missed a double-takeout and British fourth Rebecca Morrison made a double-tap to score three.
“That was a bit unfortunate,” Homan said. “But it was just the way the game went.”
The veteran skip was a game-low 53 per cent on nine hit attempts. Great Britain, ranked No. 21 in the world, shot 86 per cent overall to 83 per cent for Canada.
Homan’s final rock of the fourth end sailed through the house without making contact. Her double-raise attempt in the fifth didn’t have the necessary weight.
Jackson, who skips the Great Britain side but throws lead stones, pulled away with a deuce in the eighth. Canada was held to a single in the ninth and Morrison iced the win by removing one of the three Canadian stones in the house.
Homan’s Ottawa-based team, which includes Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes, dropped an 8-7 decision to Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni in the evening.
The Canadians had a rock pulled in the opening end when the umpire felt Homan touched the granite after releasing the handle.
“I don’t understand the call,” Homan said. “I’ll never understand it. We’ve never done that.”
Earlier Saturday, World Curling said two officials would move between all four sheets and observe deliveries.
The change came in the wake of a Canada-Sweden men’s game Friday night. Sweden vice Oskar Eriksson felt some of the Canadians were “double-touching” the stones, leading to an argument with Canada vice Marc Kennedy.
Homan still salvaged a single and led 4-0 after three ends.
The Swiss scored four points in the seventh end for a 6-5 lead. Homan made a draw in the 10th to force an extra end but Swiss fourth Alina Paetz drew the button for the win.
Switzerland moved into a tie with the United States at 3-1. Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg remained unbeaten at 4-0.
Nedohin, who won Canadian women’s titles in 1998 and 2012, said her viewpoint above the ice provides her with a different perspective of both game play and surroundings.
“From flow, from communication, from hand signals, from the crowd roars (and) how we respond,” she said. “Opportunities and capitalization. Up there it’s a little bit higher … you can see the full movement of it all.”
Homan’s team has used a variety of coaches over the years. The list includes Ryan Fry, Earle Morris, Marcel Rocque and Brendan Bottcher to name a few.
Nedohin said her coaching tenure has actually covered about half of the 2025-26 season, including two Grand Slams.
“Renee and Viktor have been at the big stages with them: world championships, at nationals and such,” Nedohin said. “As an athlete, I’ve got experience. They’ve got the experience on the bench with this team specifically.
“I like what they want from the bench and it’s this lineup and that’s fine. That’s great. That’s what they need.”
Homan has not made the playoffs in her two previous appearances at the Olympics. Jennifer Jones was the last skip to lead Canada to the top of the Olympic podium, winning gold at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2026.
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