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Wall joins gold medal curling win, making history in Sochi by Jon Kuiperij Oakville Beaver Staff 7 | Friday, February 21, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com The Canadian women's curling team made Olympic history in Sochi, and Oakville's Kirsten Wall had the best seat in the house. The 38-year-old Wall, who had retired from curling two years ago in order to spend more time with her two young daughters, was the alternate on Jennifer Jones' rink that defeated Sweden 6-3 Thursday in Sochi to become the first women's curling rink to go undefeated at the Winter Games. Wall did not play in any of Canada's games in Sochi, but she contributed behind the scenes and has been rewarded with an Olympic gold medal. "It's kind of been a wild ride, to be honest. Not something I would have predicted," Wall told the Oakville Beaver shortly after Thursday's gold-medal game. "Thank God for that call a couple years ago." That call came from Jones, the 2008 world champion who was going to miss the first half of the 2012 campaign due to knee surgery and the birth of her first child. Jones recruited Wall to replace her for a series of cashspiel, the team was successful with Wall in Jones' place, and Jones came calling again last spring to request Wall's services as alternate on the Canadian Olympic team. "I did have to think about it, because of Kirsten Wall of Oakville, left, with Canada's Olympic gold-medal champion women's rink. The team had its goldmedal victory yesterday at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. From left, Wall, lead Dawn McEwen, second Jill Officer, third Kaitlyn Lawes, and skip Jennifer Jones. | photo by Anil Mungal ­ courtesy The Curling News family and work commitments. But with family support behind me, it made the decision easy," Wall recalled. The decision may have been easy, but watching the gold-medal game Thursday was not. Canada led 4-3 until the ninth end, when Sweden skip Maria Prtytz wrecked her final shot to allow Canada to steal two points and breath easier going into the final frame. "That's the role of the fifth. You get used to watching a lot of games," Wall said. "That was probably the hardest game to watch because it was a slow start. But they persevered. Once they put pressure on (Sweden), they were able to capitalize. "They played fabulous from start to finish all week. They just took it one step at a time," she added. "Every shot matters, and they just took their time in the hack and focused on what had to be done. It was just all their work and determination that made it to be." Wall said her greatest contributions in Sochi were matching rocks between games (ensuring rocks Canada would be using were the most alike in terms of speed and how much they curled), scouting the opposition and helping her teammates stay relaxed during downtime. With Canada clinching top spot before it concluded the preliminary round, Wall -- a former Ontario junior champion and fourtime competitor at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts -- might have had an opportunity to see Olympic action against Korea in the round-robin. But she was happy to sit back and watch Jones, third Kaitlyn Lawes, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn McEwen do their thing. "It would have been great to play, but that's not the purpose (of the alternate). The purpose is to make those four play at their best, and that's what they did," Wall said. "Thankfully, they did not need me." Turning backyard dreams into reality Custom, innovative, getaway backyards 905.319.7502 / 416.410.2066 www.poolsforhome.com One Company. One Responsibility. Some limitations apply. Cannot be combined with other offer applies to kitchen cabinets only. Valid only on purchases after January 1, 2014. Offer expires Mar. 31/14