DORIAN GEIGER
Sports Editor

Joan McCusker is possibly best known for her role as the second on the late Sandra Schmirler’s dynamic Canadian Olympic gold medal curling team of 1998 and their dominance of the Canadian curling scene in the early-to-mid ’90s.

McCusker graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1987 and has since racked up three Canadian and World Women’s Curling Championships and a gold medal.

After teammate and skip Schmirler died of cancer in 2000, the team remained close but did not continue to compete at the high level they once did. McCusker has remained involved with curling and presently works as a curling commentator for CBC.

In June 2009, McCusker became involved with the Government of Saskatchewan’s Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport department and has helped coordinate and promote the Saskatchewan portion of the 2010 Olympic torch relay.

Here’s what McCusker told the Sheaf on the life and times of Schmirler the curler and about what it’s like to be a Canadian gold medalist.

The Sheaf: What was it like to stand on the gold medal podium at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan?
Joan McCusker: It becomes a very surreal moment. When you’re a high performance athlete you do not go to outcome, you never go to plan on whether you’re going to win or whether you’re going to lose.

So, you really try hard to stay in the moment all that you can, and when you get that medal and it’s put around your neck that’s within the moment. And it becomes a real surprise almost like, ‘Oh my God what have we done?’ and ‘Look where we are!’ and ‘Is this really happening to me?’

It’s every emotion that you feel when you win a gold medal: pride and joy and elation. But you’re also feeling all the more negative emotions and you’re so emotional you could pee. You’re half a world away from your family and you’ve sacrificed so much time with them, whether you have little kids or whether you’re still young and have parents.

All these kind of things hit you at once — this very pinnacle — while the Canadian flag is being raised and you’re singing “O Canada.” It’s a moment I will never ever forget because it isn’t what you expect. It’s something completely different.

Sheaf: Sandra Schmirler approaches near-godlike status among Saskatchewan curling fanatics. What kind of a person was she?
McCusker: The great story with Sandra is how absolutely down to earth and ordinary this woman was, and I’d like to think all of us were that way. We were drawn together because we were small town, rural Saskatchewan girls raised to love curling, to love your family, to love your community and to do your best and have a lot of fun.

People put her (Schmirler) on a pedestal and made her a hero but she was a very, very real, ordinary gal who had a wicked sense of humour. She loved junk food — she really was ordinary and made the most of every opportunity given to her.

Sheaf: What was Schmirler like on the ice?
McCusker: She was unbelievably competitive — really, really hated to lose. She was very intense and you have to think that all of us brought something to the table and I think we were all good for each other. I needed more intensity and more focus, which I got from Sandra and Jan (Betker), and I think they needed a little more levity.

Sheaf: I understand that you, along with Schmirler and teammates Jan Betker and Marcia Gudereit, all had children following your gold medal victory. Are you still close with Schmirler and your former teammates’ families?
McCusker: The team all had kids together so we were busy. When we weren’t Team Canada it seemed like a good time to have babies. So we all have children that are about the same age.

I have the oldest that’s 17. The rest are 13 or just turning 13; Sandra’s daughter will turn 13 later this year. All of our 12 and 13-year-olds play together on Sundays. They take turns skipping and playing third. My daughter, Sandra’s daughter, Jan’s son and Marcy’s son play on this mixed team. This has been their second year together. They love it and they’re actually pretty darn good. So you can imagine we get together on Sunday afternoons and go upstairs and laugh and cheer. It’s really fun.

Sheaf: Being a U of S alumna, was there much of a curling scene when you were in university and, if so, what was your involvement?
McCusker: Yes, I curled in university! There was a sponsored curling program for my first two years — 1983-84 and 1984-85. I was a Huskiette on the junior team. Then, the program was cut. It was really, really fun.