Canada’s Wheelchair Curling Teams Unveiled for the 2024 World Championships

Canada’s highly anticipated lineups for the 2024 World Wheelchair Curling Championship and the 2024 World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Gangnueng, South Korea, were officially announced today. The 2024 World Wheelchair Curling Championship will take place March 2-9, followed by the 2024 World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship March 10-16.

The athletes representing Canada at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship are skip (lead rocks) Mark Ideson (London, Ont.), fourth Jon Thurston (Dunsford, Ont.), third Ina Forrest (Spallumcheen, B.C.), second Gilbert Dash (Wolseley, Sask.) and fifth Chrissy Molnar (Trent Lakes, Ont.). They will be supported in South Korea by Head Coach Mick Lizmore, Team Leader Kyle Paquette, Dr. Steven Macaluso (Physician), and Sari Shatil (Physiotherapist).

Canada will be among 12 mixed-gender teams competing in Gangneung, and will be looking for another strong performance following last year’s silver-medal finish at the 2023 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Richmond, B.C.

The World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship will immediately follow the World Wheelchair Curling Championship. Canada will be represented in mixed doubles by Collinda Joseph (Stittsville, Ont.) and Dennis Thiessen (Sanford, Man.). The duo of Joseph and Thiessen represented Canada last season and won bronze. Dana Ferguson is the team’s Head Coach and Kyle Turcotte is the Team Leader. They will also be supported in Gangneung by Alysia Patience (Physiotherapist).

“After a thorough selection process, these athletes have earned the opportunity to represent Canada at the World Championships on the basis of their dedicated training and high-calibre play at competitions during the fall,” said Head Coach Mick Lizmore. “This year’s teams represent a mix of experience and newer players to the National Program. We are excited to attempt to build upon last year’s podium performances.”

Earlier this year, Canada expanded its NextGen Program, and Molnar, a new National Program athlete, will be wearing the Maple Leaf for the first time in international competition.

“We are fortunate to have a depth of strong players in Canada, but it also makes the selection process that much more difficult,” said Lizmore. “We have a close-knit group within a close-knit community of wheelchair curlers, and we wanted to recognize the notable contributions and strong performances in the fall from the entire group of athletes that were vying for the opportunity to wear the Maple Leaf.”

The Gangneung Curling Centre is a 3,500-seat multi-purpose venue that hosted the curling competitions of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as well as several World Curling Federation championships, including the 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. In January, it will host the curling competition of the Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games.