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Olympic gold medallist Marc Kennedy slides out of retirement

Olympic gold medallist Marc Kennedy joins Team Jacobs after taking a physical break from competitive curling this season
2303 kennedy
BACK IN BUSINESS – Marc Kennedy of St. Albert will return to the competitive curling circuit with Team Jacobs of Northern Ontario next season. Kennedy, 37, replaces third Ryan Fry on the Sault Ste. Marie rink skipped by Brad Jacobs with the front-end brother tandem of E.J. and Ryan Harnden. The two-time Olympian and 2010 gold medallist, three-time Brier winner and two-time world champion took this season off to rehab a sore hip and also to spend more time with his family. Kennedy will continue to live in St. Albert as the team’s lone import player. Meanwhile, the fourth annual Marc Kennedy Junior Classic is underway at the St. Albert and Crestwood curling clubs with 56 teams competing. The finals are 2 p.m. Sunday in St. Albert. AARON FAVILA/The Associated Press

Marc Kennedy’s retirement from competitive curling was shorter in length than a hogged rock.

The Olympic gold medallist, three-time Brier winner in eight appearances at the Canadian curling classic, two-time world champion and 12 Grand Slams will join Team Jacobs as the third for the Northern Ontario rink after sitting out this season rehabbing a sore hip.

“There wasn’t a lot of teams that I would go play with but this was a great opportunity to play with an amazing group of guys so it was something I couldn’t turn down,” Kennedy said.

The St. Albert Curling Club wall of fame inductee replaces third Ryan Fry on the Sault Ste. Marie rink skipped by Brad Jacobs and is anchored by the front-end brother tandem of E.J. and Ryan Harnden.

During a seven-year run, the 2014 Olympic gold medallists won the 2013 Brier and were semifinalists this year.

Last week, Fry and Jacobs agreed on a parting of the ways.

“Brad actually reached out to me Thursday afternoon and I asked for a couple of days just so I could to talk with (wife) Nicole and make sure it was the right thing for us to do and I got back to him on the Monday this week,” Kennedy said. “It was a difficult decision family-wise. I had a great year, lots of quality time with my three girls (Nicole and daughters Aubrey and Brechan) so from that standpoint this was a bit of commitment for another three years.”

Kennedy, 37, filled in for Fry at the Canada Cup in early December in Estevan, Sask., and was in mid-season form with the winners of the Season of Champions event on the Curling Canada circuit.

Fry, 40, was on a leave of absence following an incident at the Red Deer Curling Classic as a substitute for the Jamie Koe rink that included Chris Schille and DJ Kirby. They were kicked out of the World Curling Tour competition for what organizers called unsportsmanlike behaviour on and off the ice resulting from excessive drinking.

The Canada Cup was the first major competition for Kennedy after announcing March 3 last year he was leaving Team Koe, the fourth-place finishers at the 2018 Olympics, to let his hip heal while also taking a mental break from the sport.

“Being a part of that group for a week I could see the potential. I could sense that we worked really well together and that is a big, big reason why I was able to say yes in joining them without a whole lot of hesitation,” Kennedy said. “We had great chemistry. We have a lot in common. I developed a new appreciation for what those three guys bring to the table and their coach, Adam Kingsbury, as well. He’s had a big impact on them.”

The Canada Cup victory for Team Jacobs booked a spot in the 2021 Road to the Roar Pre-Trials and a berth in the World Curling Federation’s Curling World Cup next season.

“To get back to the Olympics is a big one for me. It’s just so much fun and I would love to get back while I still feel healthy and young enough to do so,” said Kennedy of qualifying for the 2021 Roar of the Rings in Saskatoon to represent Canada at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The upcoming season with Team Jacobs will be no different than curling with rinks skipped by Kevin Martin or Kevin Koe in past years except at the provincial level.

“I won't be representing Alberta but other than provincials in Northern Ontario, the rest of the season will be pretty much the same except for a little bit of extra travel for me to get together with the team to practice. Other than that I will just prepare the way I always have,” said Kennedy, who will remain in St. Albert as the team’s lone import player. “Nowadays in curling you’re just trying to put together the best teams.”

As for his sliding right hip, the wear and tear curling at a high level for 16 years finally caught up to the southpaw shooter last year.

“I feel healthy and excited. I’m ready to go,” said Kennedy, who averages three to four rehab sessions per week. “The rest from curling has made a big difference. I’m not practising every day and just giving my leg the rest has probably made the biggest difference than anything else I’ve done.”

Junior Classic

Kennedy promised to give his hip a good shake on the dance floor tonight as curlers from the 56 rinks at the fourth annual Marc Kennedy Junior Classic whoop it up at the St. Albert Curling Club.

The Junior Classic, presented by The Co-operators, consists of eight teams in each of the U21 male, U21 female, U18 male and U18 female divisions and 12 teams for both the intermediate and recreation draws.

Also competing are two teams from Sweden through the Over The Pond Junior Curling Exchange, a joint initiative by Kennedy and the Nordic Junior Curling Tour for the second year in a row.

The male and female winners on the Ontario Junior Curling Tour are also participating in the Junior Classic, which started Friday morning at the St. Albert and Crestwood curling clubs.

The six finals will be played at 2 p.m. Sunday in St. Albert.

“We had the Swedish teams out on the ice (Thursday) at the Crestwood for a couple of hours and Nicole has been dragging prizes over to the rink all day and tonight we get going with the billet families meeting their athletes and then come (Friday) morning we're going a hundred miles an hour,” said Kennedy, who was recently named the greatest Canadian male second in history.

The quarterback of the St. Albert Storm while attending Paul Kane High School received 18 first-place votes from a TSN panel comprised of 31 curling personalities, including broadcasters, reporters and elite-level curlers responsible for selecting Canada’s Greatest Curlers.

The Brier first team all-star at second in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011, second team all-star second in 2013 and second team all-star third in 2015 was also ranked eighth on the list of Canada’s all-time greatest male curlers and Martin was No. 1.

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