Sudbury siblings compete to represent Canada in curling at the Olympics

Two siblings from Sudbury will compete to achieve their Olympic dreams at the 2021 Tim Hortons Curling Trials in Saskatoon, starting on Saturday.

Tracy Fleury will skip for the East St. Paul Curling Club, out of St. Paul, Manitoba.

Her younger brother, Tanner Horgan, is also a skip, and will play for the Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston, Ontario.

"I think we definitely all enjoy and appreciate the strategy side of the game, so I think we're kind of drawn to the skipping position," said Fleury, who has become a well-known name in women's curling. 

She is a six-time northern Ontario Champion, and also won the Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2012 and the 2019 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Horgan said it was their father, Gerry Horgan, who instilled in them a love for the sport, and a strong passion for curling's strategic elements.

"He coached both of us in juniors and for a while as well, so he is not just a parent," he said.

Horgan said his team will enter the Olympic trials as an underdog, but they have strong momentum heading into the tournament. 

His team earned a berth in the tournament with a 7-4 win over veteran Glenn Howard in the 'B' side final at the 2021 Canadian Curling Pre-Trials.

"I think it was super exciting for us to get over that hurdle," he said.

Both siblings live in Greater Sudbury, but represent teams in different cities, and another province in Fleury's case.

"I had played with my old team for so long that it took just a little bit of time to get used to a new team, especially not a town team," Fleury said. "But I think after our first season, we had developed really good routines and really adjusted to the fact that I live out of province."

Her brother said Kingston has embraced him and his team.

"Kingston has been very hospitable to us and very welcoming of new people coming into the city," Horgan said. "And it's a pretty common practice, especially in southern Ontario, for not all four members of the team to be from the same city."

The winning teams in the men's and women's tournaments will get to wear the maple leaf in February at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.