The 2025-26 curling season will mark the end of an era.
Brad Gushue announced today that he will be retiring from competitive curling at the end of what could be a storybook season for him and his rink.
Special Announcement
Please direct all media enquires to [email protected] pic.twitter.com/zsNPAYo8jm— Team Gushue (@TeamGushue) September 17, 2025
The 45-year-old has enjoyed a legendary career that started with a dominant run of junior titles in his home province of Newfoundland in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
He has competed in every Brier since making his first appearance at the Canadian men’s curling championship in 2003.
Gushue skipped Newfoundland and Labrador to podium finishes at the 2007, 2011 and 2016 Brier, but didn’t truly break through until a memorable victory in front of the home crowd in St. John’s in 2017.
He’s been a force at the annual event since then and has lifted the Brier Tankard a record six times, including three times in a row between 2022-24.
While it took him 14 years to finally win his first Brier, that certainly doesn’t mean he didn’t see success early in his professional career.
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Gushue was the skip for Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, winning the tournament and becoming the first Newfoundlander ever to win an Olympic gold medal.
Those monumental wins in 2006 and 2017 are part of the reason why the 2025-26 season could make for a storybook moment for him to leave the sport’s competitive ranks.
Still considered one of the top teams in the men’s curling world, Gushue's rink will have a chance to qualify for the 2026 Olympics in Italy and compete as Team Canada in the same country where he triumphed on the world stage two decades ago.
Regardless of whether he makes it to Italy or not, The 2026 Brier is scheduled to return to St. John’s, NL, from Feb. 27 until March 8, 2026.
That means he’ll compete in his final Brier in front of the same home province fans who watched him break through with an iconic victory nine years earlier.
