 Friday night at the Players' Championship marked the end of an era with Jennifer Jones (Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC) taking her final bow from women's curling. By: Cameron Sallaj It was an emotional night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto as the curtains closed on one of the most historic careers is women's curling. Winnipeg native Jennifer Jones announced days before the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in February that the 2023-24 season would be her last in women's curling as she was planning on retiring at the conclusion of the season. At the Hearts, Jones led her Manitoba squad of Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine to a silver medal finish, dropping a close 5-4 final against Ontario's Rachel Homan. The Players' Championship this week in Toronto was the final event for Jones before her retirement. Attempting to win her eleventh Slam title, a loss to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg Friday night ended the event early for the Manitoba quartet as they were eliminated at 1-4. In an interview with Sportsnet's Robbie Doherty after the game, Jones described the moment. "I feel really good with my decision," said an emotional Jones. "I am just so grateful for all the memories and all the people who came out to support. I'm going to miss it with everything inside of me, but I've got so many great memories and I'm always going to look back on them with fondness." Jones is one of the most decorated Canadian skips of all time, bolstering six Scotties championships, an Olympic gold medal, two world championship gold medals, ten Grand Slam titles and nine Manitoba Scotties provincial titles. She has also won a Canadian mixed doubles title with husband Brent Laing in 2023 and has remained at the top of the game since her first Scotties title twenty years ago. When asked about any moments in her career that stood out, Jones said she couldn't pick one in particular. "No, I can't pick any. I think for me obviously the shot in '05 to win our first Canadian championship, the Olympic gold medal, the semifinal in that Olympics, the Trials in Winnipeg, there's so many things. Even when the women finally got to come to the Slams. The Players' was out first one but then all of them and how women's curling has evolved over the time that I've been involved. It's just been so fun to be a part of that ride and I think that's what I'm really really grateful for." Jones has led several different teams to victory throughout her career, most notability her squad of Kaitlyn Lawes, Jill Officer and Dawn McEwen with whom she captured gold at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. In 2005, she won her first Scotties skipping the team of Cathy Overton-Clapham, Officer, and Cathy Gauthier. After her team of Lawes, Jocelyn Peterman and McEwen disbanded following the 2021-22 season, Jones began skipping the young Mackenzie Zacharias team who had previously won the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships. While she will not be continuing in the women's game, Jones still plans on competing in the mixed doubles discipline. She will also still be involved with the Grand Slam circuit as she is the strategic advisor for The Curling Group which has acquired the Grand Slam series for the 2024-25 season. |
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Matt Dunstone (Photo: Curling Canada) and his Winnipeg-based squad begin play at the CO-OP Tour Challenge in Nisku, Alta.
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