Brad Gushue reveals why he’s retiring at the end of this curling season.
Brad Gushue is one of Canada’s most decorated curlers, winning Olympic gold at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin and bronze at Beijing 2022. Over his career, he captured six Brier titles, five World Men’s Championship medals, and has established himself as a leader in the sport.
One of Canada’s greatest-ever and a generational talent, Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue sat in front of a black background and emotionally announced he will be hanging up his broom at the end of the season.
Two days later, he sat down with the Inside Curling Podcast with host Jim Jerome and Gushue’s former rival, teammate and fellow Canadian curling legend, Kevin Martin to explain in detail why this felt like the right time.
Family Comes First
A revealing 45 minutes of conversation saw Gushue bring up his family more than Vin Diesel in a Fast and Furious film. Much like any elite athlete, being on the circuit for over two decades has put his personal life on the back burner. Now, he is looking forward to more time with his two teenage daughters Hayley and Marissa, and his wife Krista, who he has been married to for 19 years.
His moment of clarity came last season when he said the cons of being an elite sportsman, including the travel away from his loved ones, started to “dislike them even more.”
Gushue said: “The winning and being on the road with the guys and playing the games, I still enjoy all that, but the other stuff is just starting to outweigh the good things. I think at that point, you probably need to look at moving on.”
We could see his curling journey come full circle in the future. He has not ruled out competing this season in mixed doubles with his daughters, having won silver medals in 2020 and 2022 respectively with them at the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial championships.
He’s Getting Out While He’s Young
He has made it clear that he has ambitions elsewhere, and if he would like to achieve other goals, he has to retire while time is on his side. At 45, he has made it clear that he will not be focusing on the future until the season has ended. Politics and business careers were floated by the hosts, but without confirmation from Gushue who provided considered responses.
What seems a dead-cert is staying in the sport. He said he would love to one day coach his daughters and is open to opportunities elsewhere off the ice.
“Whether it’s coaching the girls, whether it’s maybe in an admin position or media position or whatever it may be, I’m certainly open to it and want to keep my fingers in the game a little bit.”
Gushue names his top five “biggies”
When asked about his favourite moments of his career, he listed five. One of these was winning the Canadian Junior and World Junior Championships in 2001, after heartache in 2000.
“The previous year we lost the Canadian Junior Final and I took that loss so hard. I missed an easy shot to win the championship and I was inconsolable for a long time after that. I actually didn’t want to play my last year of juniors.”
Emotions were high when the announcement was made
Throughout the podcast, Gushue listed several reasons for retiring, but also how he told everyone about his decision.
He would tell his daughters, having already spoken about this with his wife. Then, his teammates who he praised for their “kindness and empathy” when he dropped the bombshell. From there, he had to consult with sponsors, with his retirement affecting the future financial stability of the team. His support staff and close personal friends would also find out before the video was published on Wednesday, September 17.
Someone who he would not have the opportunity to consult with was his mentor and 1976 Brier winner, Toby McDonald, who coached Team Gushue to Olympic gold in Turin 2006. McDonald passed away in January at the age of 73 – a death that greatly affected him.
In his retirement video, you can see him unable to read his statement in one take, overwhelmed by the moment.
“I was very emotional as soon as I went on the internet. I got very emotional and my wife got emotional. Then I started getting some messages from close friends and people I played against over the years and got more emotional.”
