Team Canada clinches bronze medal and spot at 2026 Paralympics at 2025 World Wheelchair Curling Championship

Team Canada earned a double victory Saturday morning at the 2025 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Stevenston, Scotland.

Not only did the Canadian team earn a bronze medal but also secured a berth for Canada in the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Paralympic Games.

The Canadian team, made up of fourth Jon Thurston (Dunsford, Ont.), third/skip Gilbert Dash (Kipling, Sask.), second Douglas Dean (Thunder Bay, Ont.), lead Collinda Joseph (Stittsville, Ont.), fifth Chrissy Molnar (Trent Lakes, Ont.), and head coach Mick Lizmore, overpowered Team Slovakia 4-2 to capture another medal on the international stage.

Team Canada’s success in this quadrennial at world championships has secured a spot in the Paralympic field with top qualification points alongside host country, Team Italy, and 2025 World Champions, Team China.

The full Paralympic field is expected to be announced by World Curling soon.

“All week long, we came out of the gates firing,” said Dash after medalling in his first World Championship as Team Canada’s skip. “Everybody was playing really well, and even though we had a little bit of a lull in the round robin, we came back up and we beat the reigning World Champions, Norway, to get through into the playoffs. I’m proud of our team, and we all feel very proud to be representing Canada.”

In the bronze-medal match, the Slovakians certainly surprised Team Canada with their unrelenting hitting game and put the Canadians under pressure, particularly in the second half of the game.

The game turned on a dime in the seventh end, when the teams traded opportunities to gain the competitive edge. Slovakia was only able to secure one point by the end of the seventh, leaving Canada with the hammer in the eighth end.

With a couple of well-placed peels by Dean in the eighth end, Thurston was left with a tricky, open takeout to secure the victory for Canada.

“Now we begin the planning for next year,” said Joseph. “Hopefully I can be part of the team that goes to Italy in 2026. We’ve learned so much here at this event, and we have a lot of things that we could use going forward, so I’m super excited.”

The 2025 bronze medal will join Team Canada’s collection of nine medals at world championships, the highest number of medals of any nation.

Find all the results from the championship here.

The 2025 World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship begins on Tuesday at the Auchenharvie Leisure Centre in Stevenston.