Regina native and curling legend Ben Hebert is going to the Olympics for a third time and explained the stress level compared to the Brier.
"Briers, we've been to that we've lost, you can still have a good time. But the [Canadian Curling Olympic] Trials, if you're one of the favourites at the Trials, it's so boom or bust," Hebert said on the SportsCage.
"To win, you get so many crazy experiences, life-changing things that happen to you. And lose, it's back to real life. At least at the Brier, there's some prize money, there's a bunch of points, there's other opportunities that come from getting to the Brier playoffs."
In Hebert's career, the other two times he went to the Olympics were in 2010 and 2018. Also, he won the 2003 World Junior Curling Championship. The 42-year-old has won the Brier five times (2008, 2009, 2016, 2019 and 2025), two World Curling Championships (2008 and 2016), one Olympic gold medal in 2010, and one Pan Continental Championship in 2025. He also previously won the Canadian Curling Olympic Trials twice (2009 and 2017).
"Trials are like all or nothing. If you're a lower-ranked team and you're there for a good time, sure, but I've never had that experience. I've always had a decent team at the Trials and a chance to win. So at the end of it, it's like, 'Oh, let's decompress, twist off here a little bit and have a good time,'" Hebert said.
"It was a grind of a week. That's what we play for — those cool opportunities that don't come around very often — and to be able to seize the moment like we did again, on top of the world."
Hebert is part of Brad Jacobs' team, which defeated Matt Dunstone's team in the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials. The format was a best-of-three as Hebert and his team won game one 9-8 on November 28 then 5-4 the following day.
"After the first game, I was like, 'Damn, I wish it was one game.' I think we could really feel the tension on the other team in that second game, when it was elimination for them and not for us. I think the first game, the ice was a little tricky, a few extra misses out there. I didn't feel the tightness or the tension because it was game one," Hebert recalled.
"By game two, it was do or die for them, and it wasn't for us. I felt like we were a lot more veteran in that second game, and it could have been because of the situation."
Hebert was asked whether his family would make the trip with him to the Olympics.
"My family is for sure going to be coming. You don't get these opportunities very often. Being one of the oldest Olympians with kids that are 12 and eight, the last time I went, my son was one, and my daughter was five, they don't remember that in PyeongChang," Hebert explained.
"My son has to miss a bunch of hockey. My daughter has to miss her Alberta Winter Games curling provincials, which she'd be a part of, they have a great little team — they probably have a decent chance to win. But my wife said, 'We're going to Italy.'"
As for Hebert's extended family, he will have to decide who is coming along.
"It's so expensive to go because it's such a small town, a little village, that accommodations are tough and tickets are tough. Flights are the only thing that are really easily accessible," Hebert explained.
"Going through that here the next few days to see who's all going to be watching on TV in the middle of the night and then who's coming over to crush some chicken parm."
The 2026 Olympics will be held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy from February 6 through February 22, 2026.
