Rachel Homan Helps Team Win 2024 Scotties, Beats Jennifer Jones

Summary:

• Ontario’s Rachel Homan has defeated Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones 5-4, winning the Canadian women’s curling championship.
• The victory propelled Homan to the first position in the 2026 Olympic trials.
• It was supposed to be Jones’ farewell retirement party.

What was expected to be a winning retirement bash for Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones marking her last Scotties Tournament of Hearts turned into a 5-4 victory for her team’s opponents. 

Rachel Homan reigned the night and capped an unbeaten week at the annual Canadian women’s curling championship. 

The Ontario team was rewarded with $100,000 for the victory in prize money for the victory.

“An Absolutely Unbelievable Game”

The Ottawa skip worked her magic and beat Winnipeg’s iconic curler, during a game that the former described as “absolutely unbelievable”.

“You put in the work, and you hope it’s enough,” added Homan. “And, it was enough.”, she concluded. 

The result also brought the skip an 11-0 record for her fourth title at the Scotties. 

Together with lead Sarah Wilkes, second Emma Miskew, third Tracy Fleury, alternate Rachel Brown, and coach Don Bartlett, Homan managed to trip Jones three times. 

This includes a 7-5 round-robin meeting as well as the 6-4 Page playoff one-versus-two battle that took place a day 24 ahead of the finale watched by close to 3,200 passionate fans. 

Thanks to the fresh Scotties win, Homan gets the prestigious first spot in the Olympic trials to stand for Canada during the upcoming 2026 Winter Games that will take place in Milano Cortina, Italy.

“I Couldn’t Have Asked for a Better Championship.”

It’s probably safe to say that this is not the way Manitoba’s Jones was expecting to say farewell at the end of what also proved to be an excellent past week for her next to her team.

Nonetheless, with fans standing up, roaring, shouting, and clapping to celebrate the talented curler who was thirsty for her to get a record by scooping up a seventh crown, it was still a nice ending.

The Winnipeg native immediately answered her fans back with hugs, tears, kisses blown back, and waves.

“Awww…I wish I could have that drawback,” she said, adding that she couldn’t have asked for a better championship. 

The player called the crowds “fantastic” and described the game they played as really great that could have ended either way. 

Jones and her team were the first Manitoba-located curling team to ever win a gold medal at the Olympics. During the 2014 Sochi Games, she was the first female ever to go through the Games undefeated.