Curling

EDMONTON -Cheryl Bernard knows a thing or two about big finals, but most of those experiences were about losing. Despite a remarkable résumé of playing in some of the biggest championships in curling, she's had more than her fair share of second-place finishes. Provincial finals, a Canadian final in 1996, last games in big cash events.

But all that was forgotten on Saturday night at the Canadian curling trials when the Calgary skip's rink of Susan O'Connor, Carolyn Darbyshire and Cori Bartel captured the prize every team in the country has been chasing for four years - the right to wear Canadian colours at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

"The thought that went through my mind," Bernard said, "was that all those losses for finals that we've had - we've won some provincial finals and got to Canadians but we've lost some heartbreakers - that all of that was for this. That's good, whatever it did. I'll take all those losses for this win. It's worth it."

That victory, which came over 2006 Olympic representative Shannon Kleibrink through a last-end, last-rock draw that came to rest just in time in the back of the eight-foot circle, propelled the rink from a team that was good but not always good enough to one that will be expected to win a gold medal in Vancouver. In the three Games that curling has been a medal sport, Canada has never failed to make the podium, adding pressure to the Bernard squad.

"It feels like things just got a lot heavier," O'Connor admitted shortly after the win.

"I guess I'll have to adjust to [the expectations]," Bernard said. "It'll be a little bit different. We'll talk to a lot of people that know. It was different to go into [the trials] and have it in perspective. How will it be going into the Olympics? We'll have a team of people that will work with us and I'm sure we'll get prepared the way we need to get prepared for the country."

Although Bernard has matched up against many of the rinks that will vie for medals in Vancouver, this is the first time she will do so wearing the Maple Leaf. Her relative lack of international experience will be in contrast to many of her opponents. Teams such as defending gold medalist Anette Norberg of Sweden and reigning world champion Bingyu Wang of China are overflowing with global play and will provide more than enough competition for the team from Calgary.

Adding to the challenge facing the Canadians is the short turnaround time. Most of the other squads have had at least a year to train, knowing they were heading to Vancouver. Bernard has nine weeks to prepare.

"Good," she said. "I can't wait. It'll be great. These guys can do it. Our team is solid. Canada behind us? Wow, I think we'll have no problem. And in our own country? Amazing."

While every member of the rink is an accomplished shot maker, their mental makeup has made the difference in the past two years. Bernard, who co-wrote a book on the psychological aspects of the sport, appears as tough mentally as any competitor. She has found a balance between perspective and intensity, by working with sports psychologist Penny Werthner.

Despite all that was riding on that final game, Bernard was clearly enjoying the contest, breaking out into big smiles and laughing along with her teammates no matter what the scoreboard read. Once again, she went back to the lessons learned from her numerous big-game losses, including one in the national final.

"The '96 Canadian, losing that was incredibly hard," Bernard said. "You always want to get back and get that experience and play on that arena ice. Those are always tough losses. Our team probably learns the most together on how we need to be in a final, how we need to keep calm, how we need to support each other. You learn a lot from losing. You don't like it but you learn a lot from it and our team has taken that and made good with it.

"I have a great life and this [win] just added amazing things to it. So that's the way I need to continue to play."