Brad Gushue didn’t hide what he was thinking on or off the ice.
asserted
he → hide → ice
The decorated curler continues that frankness in his book “Gushue: The Making of a Champion” due for release Nov. 3 by Penguin Random House Canada.
asserted
curler → decorate → Canada
Winner of an Olympic gold medal and a world championship, Gushue is the only skip to win six Canadian men’s curling championships, also known as the Brier.
asserted
Gushue → win → Brier
Another Olympic bronze medal and four world-championship silvers put Gushue-led teams among the best in the world for almost a decade before his retirement this year.
asserted
medal → put → retirement
Gushue achieved that despite the geographic disadvantage of living in Newfoundland and Labrador, and competing in a sport that requires constant travel elsewhere across the country to compete at the highest level.
asserted
that → achieve → level
He and journalist Stephen Brunt began working on Gushue’s memoir in September of 2025, when Gushue declared he would retire at season’s end.
asserted
he → begin → end
Gushue doesn’t gloss over friction with teammates or competitors, or hard decisions he made in his ceaseless pursuit of excellence in a sport he loves.
asserted
he → gloss → sport
“I didn’t want it just to be a glossy, fluff piece,” Gushue said.
asserted
Gushue → want → ?
“That’s not the way I felt my career was, and I didn’t want it to be articulated that way.”
asserted
it → ’ → ?
His wife Krista urged him to be vulnerable in the book.
asserted
wife → urge → book
Working with Brunt made him feel comfortable to do so.
asserted
him → work → Brunt
“I went through that for a large stretch of my career, where I was worried about what people thought, and that’s why I didn’t share some of those things,” Gushue said.
asserted
Gushue → go → things
“I’m quite content where I’m at and who are central figures in my life and just wanted to tell my story, like the warts and all.
asserted
who → ’m → warts
but you know, it is what it is.
asserted
it → know → ?
If it changes people’s opinion of me, this is who I am, so it’s probably not a bad thing.”
asserted
it → change → me
Gushue skipped Canada to its first Olympic gold medal in men’s curling in 2006 in Turin, Italy.
asserted
Gushue → skip → Turin
But it took him 14 tries to win his first Brier, which he did in storybook fashion in his hometown of St. John’s in 2017.
asserted
he → take → 2017
He and his teammates went on to claim a world title a few weeks later in Edmonton.
uncertain
He → go → Edmonton
A feat that he says ranks third in his career behind Olympic gold and the 2017 Brier victory is winning a fourth Canadian title in Lethbridge, Alta., in 2022 in unprecedented circumstances.
asserted
he → say → circumstances
He played a three-man team through the playoffs and the final less than three weeks after earning an Olympic bronze medal in Beijing amid exhausting COVID-19 restrictions.
asserted
He → play → restrictions
Athletes weren’t tested after the round robin concluded in Lethbridge, but Gushue’s longtime vice Mark Nichols fell ill with the virus before playoffs and isolated in his hotel room.
asserted
vice → test → room
Gushue, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker continued as a trio to win the Brier.
asserted
Gushue → continue → Brier
Gushue wrote that Gallant likely had COVID while playing in the final, but after making the mistake of not bringing an alternate player, the threesome’s competitive instincts took over.
asserted
instincts → write → player
“He hid it very well, but it’s not something we’re super proud of,” Gushue said.
asserted
Gushue → hide → it
“When you’re in that moment, you’re so competitive, but you also know that he’s not feeling great, so it’s a moral dilemma that you’re fighting with
asserted
you → ’re → that
Gushue also wrote that he was served with a lawsuit by John Epping’s team the day after his return from Beijing and before the Brier in Lethbridge.
asserted
he → write → Lethbridge
That team argued Curling Canada changed the rules to allow Gushue to compete in Lethbridge when no other Canadian men’s team had previously competed in both the Olympic Games and the Brier in the same year.
asserted
team → argue → year
Gushue had the top-ranked men’s team in Canada at the time and was in the Brier field as the high seed among three wild-card teams.
asserted
Gushue → have → teams
The matter went to arbitration and was dismissed, Gushue said.
asserted
Gushue → go → arbitration
“The funny thing was, when I was served, I thought it was actually a fan coming to look for an autograph.
asserted
it → serve → autograph
This happens occasionally where people will come up to my house,” he said.
asserted
he → happen → house
“So I see the envelope and I’m like ‘oh, he’s got a picture he wants me to sign.
asserted
me → see → picture
“I got quite the shock when he said I’d been served.”
Despite his international successes and Grand Slam victories, Gushue’s favourite curling event remains the Brier.
asserted
event → get → successes
Nothing will top playing in it, Gushue said, but he’s still in the game as a television commentator, the high-performance director of USA Curling and supporter and coach of daughters Hayley and Marissa in the sport.
asserted
he → top → sport
Gushue said he needed a healthy ego to battle the odds that were against him having the kind of success he did in curling.
asserted
he → say → curling
“It’s a strong belief in yourself and sometimes the belief is beyond what the reality is and I’ve been guilty of that too, but I think that’s sometimes what drives people to go that little extra bit,” Gushue said.
asserted
Gushue → ’ → people
“They just have a little bit more belief in themselves than what they should have.
asserted
they → have → what
“That helped propel me to where I am.
asserted
I → propel → me
It didn’t make me feel like I was better than someone as a person, but I felt I was a better curler.”
asserted
I → make → person
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
asserted
report → publish → Press
The Aporia
