2022 Olympians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have competed in the MadTown DoubleDown mixed teams curling competition in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, with 24 teams from four nations in attendance.

Gill (QAS) and Hewitt (VIS) finished with a record of two wins and three losses for the event, making a strong start comfortably winning their first two matches, but unfortunately lost their next three games in close results, and were not advanced to the final round.

The event was won by Japanese Team of Matsumura/Tanida, who defeated Canadians Walker/Muyres in the gold medal match with a score of 7-2.

Tahli Gill will now head to Lake Placid, USA, for the World University Games, which will run from January 13-21.

After the event, Dean Hewitt commented:

"It was our first time competing at the Madtown Doubledown in Madison, Wisconsin."

"What an incredible event it was with a stacked field, yet one of the most social events on the calendar. The atmosphere was one of the best we’ve ever played at."

"We started off strong with two wins and had three very tight battles against athletes from the 2018 Men’s Olympic Gold Medal Team, all coming down to the last shot."

"Despite falling just short of the playoffs, there are a lot of positives going forward and we’re looking forward to our longest uninterrupted block of training we’ve ever had coming up in Canada.

"I’m looking forward to watching Tahli and her team compete at the upcoming World University Games in Lake Placid."

IMAGES: Joel Underwood & David Surber

2022 Olympians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have booked their place for the World Championships, with a victory at the Australian National Curling Championships held in New Zealand.

The pair went through undefeated, to record their third National Championship title together, winning the final with a sore of 9 to 3 against Team Westhagen/Panoussi.

The 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships will take place in Gangneung, Korea, from April 22 to 29.

Results
1 - Gill/Hewitt
2 - Westhagen/Panoussi
3 - Boersen/Francey

2022 Olympians Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have competed in the Super Series curling event in Winnipeg, Canada, finishing with a 2-2 record in the group stage.

Gill (QAS) & Hewitt (VIS) opened the event up against Matsumura & Tanida of Japan, with the Japanese taking the win with a score of 7 to 11 points.

In their second match, Gill & Hewitt recorded their first victory at the event, with a 7-4 win over Just & Grindheim of Canada.

They backed up their second round win with another strong performance in the third match, finishing ahead of Canadian team Thevenot & Kalthoff with a score of 7-3.

In a high scoring final round robin match, Gill & Hewitt unfortunately lost to Norwegians Moen & Nedregotten 9-7.

Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have finished a whirlwind final day in Beijing by knocking off Canada 10-8 in the mixed doubles curling.

They raced to a 7-0 lead against John Morris and Rachel Homan of Canada, but were forced to play a tiebreaking ninth end to put them away for good.

"In mixed doubles it's just so hard to feel safe. It's hard to keep that big lead with so much in play all the time," Tahli said.

"Sorry for giving everyone a heart attack!"

It capped off a remarkable day for the Aussie pair, as they can lay claim to defeating the PyeongChang 2018 mixed doubles gold and silver medallists just hours apart.

After seven tries, their historic first win at the Olympics came 9-6 against Switzerland. It was a wild match that the Aussie pair dictated when it mattered most to close the game on a 6-0 spurt.

They carried that form into the start of the Canada game, which increased their scoring streak to a combined 12 unanswered points.

Tahli and Dean almost faced an entirely different reality today that would have seen their two games against Switzerland and Canada be abandoned, which would have sent them home winless.

Speaking after their win over Switzerland earlier in the day, Tahli shed light on their eventful day.

"It has literally been the craziest, craziest 24 hours. My bags are still packed, I only just had time to pull out my uniforms," Tahli said.

"I was ruffling through my bags and ripping clothes out left, right and centre. I played with only one glove on - and it was the wrong one."

Dean had a similar experience, as they thought their Olympic campaign had been cut short.

"It was just crazy, mayhem, getting the uniforms on. The excitement in the (hotel) room was unbelievable," Dean said.

"It was so exciting to be able to get back out on the ice and play these last two games."

"It's one of those things where you don't realise what you've got until it's gone. Once we heard that we could actually play again, it made it extra special for us.

"We were like, ‘Let's embrace the Olympics, embrace what we have and be grateful for it'. Because it's something that can be taken away from you in a moment's notice.

He was taken aback by the reception they received at The Ice Cube.

"It's incredible. You walk out there onto the ice and nearly everyone comes up to you and says, ‘We're so happy that you're out here'. It just shows the camaraderie between curlers here."

The win against Canada carried more significance than most other matches for Tahli and Dean. They were directly competing against Canada's John Morris on the ice, who up until the Games started had been coaching them to qualify for the Olympics.

Morris is a dual Olympic gold medallist that needed to beat the Australians to feature in the mixed doubles semi-finals.

Playing with a weight off their shoulders, Tahli and Dean picked up three points in the opening end against the Canadians. They continued to overwhelm Canada in the second end, stealing two points in the round to give them a perfect start. Canada, desperate for an answer, used up their powerplay but to no avail as Australia stole another point.

Tahli, 22, was the youngest mixed doubles competitor in Beijing and Dean is only 27. The Beijing 2022 Games will be a great experience for them to build on, as their desire to compete at the Olympics has only gotten stronger.

"We came here to win as many games as we could. Unfortunately at the start of the week we couldn't quite make the extra half shot to win those games," Dean said.

Tahli added, "We're leaving the Olympics so proud.

"If anything, this whole experience has just made me and Dean so much more motivated. We're just going to knuckle down as soon as we get home and we're not going to stop until we're here again in the next four years."

Australia finished their round robin matches with a record of 2-7. On four occasions they only lost by a single point. In the space of five days they have inspired a nation to fall in love with Curling.

olympics.com.au
Jeff Dickinson-Fox

In an Australian Olympic first Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt have recorded Australia's maiden curling win with a 9-6 triumph over Switzerland.

It was a wild match with constant momentum swings, but the Aussie pair dictated terms when it mattered to close the game on a 6-0 spurt.

"We put our hearts and souls into that game, to be able to come back with the win was really awesome," Tahli said.

The match nearly didn't go ahead, but much to the delight of Tahli and Dean they were given the green light to round out their Olympic campaign.

"I was ruffling through my bags and ripping clothes out left, right and centre. I played with only one glove on - and it was the wrong one," Tahli said.

"It was just crazy, mayhem, getting the uniforms on," Dean said.

"The excitement in the (hotel) room was unbelievable. It was so exciting to be able to get back out on the ice and play these last two games."

Key to the pair's success was the points they stole on Switzerland's hammer (an end where a team has the last stone to throw), as they grabbed four points with those opportunities.

Trailing 3-6 in the sixth round, Australia activated their powerplay and Tahli delivered a gem to finish the end.

The Swiss held a two-stone advantage with just Tahli's stone to come, and she caused a domino effect with Switzerland's scoring stones which cleared the way for a three-point advantage of Australia's own - a move that would have sent the Gill and Hewitt families into hysterics.

"We knew once we took the powerplay that we could push really hard for that three and stay right in the game, so making that shot it felt really good and we were finally able to get back in that game," Tahli said.

Switzerland took their powerplay in the seventh end and it finished in disaster for them, as Australia stole two points to regain the lead for good.

"No.1, to win in the Olympics is amazing, and No.2, under the circumstances, I think the resilience that we showed and just the pure passion coming out from us during that game - that's what we're all about," Dean said.

"I'm just so proud of Tahli being [able] to step up in that game, because I don't know how I would have been able to get through it myself."

Despite the interrupted preparation for the game, Dean's accuracy was a big reason the pair got off to a 3-0 lead after two ends.

Switzerland responded with six-straight points but they lost their rhythm and didn't recover.

Tahli and Dean will take to the ice one final time in Beijing for a match against Canada, beginning at 11:05pm AEDT on Channel 7 and 7plus.

The Canadian side has a familiar face for Australia in that of John Morris.

Morris, a 43-year-old who won bronze in the mixed doubles at PyeongChang 2018, will compete as an athlete and has been an influential coach for Tahli and Dean in their efforts to qualify for an Olympic debut.

olympics.com.au
Jeff Dickinson-Fox

Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt showed nerves of steel with two great comeback wins at the mixed doubles Final Olympic Qualification tournament in Leeuwarden, Netherlands to ensure they will progress to the knockout playoff stages.

The pair started their third day of competition coming back from 6-1 down to defeat Denmark 8-7 in the final end, before scoring the last four points of the match to beat Russia 8-6 after trailing 6-4 more than halfway through the match.

After earlier tournament victories over Germany and Turkey, the duo move to four wins and no losses, ensuring they will progress to the knockout playoff stages despite still having two matches against Spain and Hungary tonight (AEST) remaining in the round robin section of the tournament.

Hewitt and Gill have shown incredible precision and calm under pressure, as they strive to earn one of the final two Beijing 2022 quotas at this tournament to become Australia's first ever Olympic curlers.

World Curling reported the Denmark pairing of Jasmin Lander and Henrik Holtermann started strongly against the Australian duo, opening with a score of two in the first end of their game. Denmark added another two points in the third end and following that up with a steal of two in the fourth when Australia's attempted tap-out did not curl, giving Denmark a 6-1 lead at the break.

Australia then called a power play in the fifth end and used it to score three points and bring themselves back into the game, at 4-6 down. Denmark's Jasmin Lander drew for one point in the sixth end to take a 7-4 lead but in the seventh, Australia drew to score three and tie the game at 7-7.

In a tense eighth end, Australia set themselves up with a stone on the button, with plenty of stones in front. Lander's final take-out attempt wrecked on a front stone, giving Australia a steal of one to complete a second-half comeback with an 8-7 win that kept their undefeated record going.

Australia's comeback curlers did it again later that evening against Russia, with World Curling reporting Australia's Gill got Australia off to a better start, just getting her last draw around a front guard to open the scoring with two points. In the second end, Russia could only score one point with a hit and stay by Anna Sidorova and in the third end, Gill missed her attempt to score three and had to settle for just two points and a 4-1 lead. Russia scored two in the fourth end with a gentle tap around the button by Sidorova to give Australia a 4-3 lead at the break.

In the fifth end, Gill just brushed a front guard with her last shot and this handed Russia a steal of three and the lead, 6-4. Australia then drew level in the sixth end with a draw for two by Gill and then a single steal in the seventh gave them a 7-6 lead. In the eighth, Russia's Sidorova missed a challenging raise take-out, giving Australia another single steal and the 8-6 win.

Dean Hewitt was happy with the result but said there was still work to do heading into the final round robin matches and knockout playoffs.

"We had to make a couple of freezes in that last end but overall, we're happy with that," Hewitt said. "We've had a few battles and now we just need to sharpen up on a couple of things, and go back to the drawing board for tomorrow."
The Australians will take on Hungary and Spain tonight (EAST) to close out the round robin section of the tournament, before the playoffs the following evening.

You can follow scores and access streaming links via World Curling here

Team Australia featuring Dean Hewitt and Tali Gill has finished in thirteenth place overall at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland.
 
Taking part in their first competition since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, Hewitt and Gill were one of 20 teams at the event, with the top seven nations achieving direct qualification to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
 
Team Australia finished its Group A Round Robin with a record of 3 wins and 6 losses, missing out on advancing to the playoff stage.
 
The highlight was no doubt the 3-point win over curling powerhouse, Canada, with Hewitt and Gill emerging victorious 8-5.
 
Wins were also recorded against Hungary and Spain.

The event was won by Scotland, who defeated Norway in the final 9-7.
 
Hewitt and Gill have one last chance to qualify for Beijing later this year at the Olympic Qualification Event, with the top two teams securing a place in the Olympic field. One of the ten places in the Olympic field will be taken up by China, who is already guaranteed a place as host nation.

IMAGE © WCF

Alpine Skiing
Greta Small continued her injury rehabilitation at the AIS in Canberra making great progress with the Strength and Conditioning Staff in the gym before heading to Jindabyne for most of the winter to return to on snow training. After leaving Jindabyne, Small returned to the AIS for a further six-week intensive Strength and Conditioning bock.
 
Small is planning on heading to Europe for on snow training in mid December.
 
Bobsleigh
Bree Walker has been in Europe since last winter preparing for the northern hemisphere season, and has taken part in a number of successful push and sliding camp activities.
 
Unfortunately, Walker was unable to compete at opening two World Cup events in Sigulda, Latvia, after a member of her support team tested positive for COVID.
 
Bree is now planning for the next event on the Bobsleigh World Cup tour in Innsbruck, Austria, on December 12-13.
 
Curling
Mixed doubles pair Dean Hewitt & Tahli Gill have been training in their home states, with Hewitt at the Victorian Institute of Sport and Gill at the Queensland Academy of Sport.

With International travel restrictions in place it has been very difficult to access overseas Curling Ice to date.

The pair are aiming to be back on the ice training perhaps in Asia, by January in preparation for the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in late April. The event has been moved to Europe, with the exact location to be announced.
 
Figure Skating
Brendan Kerry has been based in Europe, training in France and Russia.
 
Kerry was scheduled to compete in the Internationaux de France ISU Grand Prix event in mid November, but it was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID restrictions in France.
 
Kailani Craine has remained at home in Newcastle training at her local ice rink, with Ice Dance couple Chantelle Kerry Andrew Dodds also training in Sydney.
 
Skeleton
Jackie Narracott has been training in Bath, UK, preparing for the northern hemisphere winter.
 
Narracott is currently evaluating the best plan, locations and opportunities for training and competition during the international season due to the difficult COVID situation in Europe.

Australia's leading mixed doubles curling team, Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill, have achieved their best result of the 2019/2020 international season, claiming silver at the Sutherland Mixed Doubles Curling Classic in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

After convincing wins in the quarter final and semi final rounds, the team advanced through to the gold medal playoff, facing the team of Chaelynn Kitz and Brayden Stewart of Canada, narrowly going down six points to four.

"We had a great event here in Saskatoon, Canada", Hewitt commented after the event.

"There were a number of great teams including some going to the World Championships with us in April."

"It was promising to see that we could put together all that we built on from our training camps and different coaches we’ve been working with over the past seven weeks."

"We had three good events leading up to this one but we were always one win or just centimeters away from making the playoffs.

"Reaching the final in our last event here gives us more motivation for when we head to Europe in March. We’re feeling great out there on the ice and can’t wait until Scotland."

"We head home now for a little rest and build up our gym work for the next month."

The next event on the schedule for Hewitt and Gill is the International Mixed Doubles competition in Dumfries, Scotland, during March 19-22.

IMAGE: © Team Gill/Hewitt Instagram

The OWIA Curling Mixed Doubles team of Dean Hewitt and Tahli Gill, have commenced their international season campaign at a number of World Curling Tour events in Canada.

The first event for the team was the Qualico Mixed Doubles Classic, which took place in Canmore/Banff, Alberta, Canada, on January 2-5. At the event they had three wins and two losses in round robin play, and finished second in Group C, but did not advance to the playoff stage.

The next event was the Brantford Mixed Doubles Cashspiel in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, on January 10-12, with Team Hewitt (VIS Scholarship) & Gill (QAS Scholarship) recording two wins and three losses to place fourth in Pool A, and did not progress to playoffs.

Over the weekend, the team competed in the Stu Sells Toronto Cricket Mixed Doubles Cashspiel in Toronto, Canada, but unfortunately did not advance though to the playoffs.

The next event for the team will be the Sutherland Mixed Doubles Curling Classic in Saskatoon, Canada, during February 7-9
 
IMAGE: © Team Gill/Hewitt Instagram