Jill Officer Interview
Today we tick another sport off our list that we've never featured interview from before with our first ever curler, the one and only Jill Officer. Jill was on the undefeated gold medal winning team from Sochi, and she talks us through all the thoughts and emotions of the historic run in Sochi on the way to the gold medal. She takes us back to how she got into the sport through her family, and how she met her long time team mate Jennifer Jones as a teenager. Jill also explains how huge the mob scene was when arriving home at a late hour after the Olympics, not to mention what she's up to now since leaving the sport competitively.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
COLIN HILDING: Welcome to Off The Podium, an Olympics podcast, as we're continuing in a series of interviews where we're discovering new sports that we've never had the opportunity to talk about before, and there couldn't be anything more exciting, especially as a Canadian, to be able to talk to our first ever curler here on Off The Podium. And we honestly couldn't have picked a better curler to start with than Jill Officer, who was on the 2014 Sochi Undefeated Gold Medal winning team in curling. And this was particularly exciting for me because as we have talked to other athletes from my home province of Manitoba before, even my home city of Winnipeg, this is the first time I was able to talk to an athlete who was actually in Winnipeg at the time of doing the interview and it was still done remotely, unfortunately, but I almost could have just yelled the questions out the window and had Jill respond by yelling back, but obviously much more convenient to do it over a call. Jill's able to talk to us a lot about the sport of curling, how she got into it, how she actually clicked with her teammate Jennifer Jones at a very young age when they started playing together, all the way through her career, world championships, national championships, all the way up to the obviously the big main event, the Olympics in Sochi, where they went undefeated and won the gold medal. So let's get right into it. Here is our first curler ever on Off The Podium, Jill Officer.
COLIN HILDING: We are thrilled today to offer you a new interview with an athlete in the sport. We've never actually talked about before. We've talked a lot about this sport, but never had the chance to actually pick the brain of somebody who's competed in this. Today we have an Olympic gold medallist from Sochi, multiple time world champion and fellow Winnipeger, which is very exciting for me, Jill Officer. Thanks so much for being here today.
JILL OFFICER: Oh yeah, thanks. Happy to have any opportunity to talk about curling.
COLIN HILDING: I mean, you've been in the sport for so long too. I mean, I think that's the interesting thing when we talk to a lot of athletes is that they typically get into a sport when they're very young. And just doing a little bit of research here, I mean, you started competing professionally, including with one of your teammates you won the gold medal with all the way back when you were a teenager. I mean, but is that where you started curling or had you had a little bit of experience? How did you actually get into the sport?
JILL OFFICER: It tends to be, at least right now, that people who get into curling, it's typically a family connection. So that's exactly what it was for me. My mum was a coordinator of a junior curling league at a curling club near our house. She played two or three times a week and then coordinated the junior league on Sunday mornings. So my brother and sister also played in that junior league. So I was always hanging around the curling club with my mum, or I was hanging around the hockey rink with my dad, who was a competitive hockey coach. And my brother also played hockey. So I was at one rink or the other. I always say, I think I just maybe had a little more natural ability for curling versus hockey. Plus I actually was on figure skates for most of my young life. So yeah, I ended up starting more regularly when I was about 10, but I had typically been around the club and on the ice for quite a period of time by that point. And my mum was kind of my first coach and put a little team together for me. And we played in some bond spiels and I got to hang out with my friends and stuff like that. And it was about when I was 16 or almost 16 that Jennifer Jones, who I ended up curling with for 23 years, she asked me when I was about 16 years old if I wanted to play with her. So, yeah, it kind of spiraled from there.
COLIN HILDING: And did you have any other sports that you were looking to compete in at the time, or were you pretty much set, curling, this is what I want to stick with?
JILL OFFICER: I wouldn't say that I looked at curling like this was what I wanted to stick with, at least not at that 10, 12, 13 year old sort of stage. I knew I loved curling, but I also did a lot of other sports. I didn't necessarily compete in the, I mean, I played soccer, which you're competing in games. I loved playing soccer, and I actually played soccer into my 20s for a long time. And then I also played, or I did gymnastics. I twirled the baton.
COLIN HILDING: Oh really?
JILL OFFICER: And I figure skated. I got all my badges for figure skating, and that was the point where I kinda had to choose whether I was going to train and compete as a figure skater or not, which was just never seemed to be a consideration for me as much as I loved figure skating as well. Yeah, so it was just more so having the opportunity to be exposed to a number of different sports. But again, I think the curling, there was just something about it, and I got to hang out with my friends more with curling. And yeah, and again, just a little bit of more natural ability, I think for that sport. And so I started getting into that a little more seriously in my mid teens or so, and especially when Jennifer asked me to play.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, my only experience actually curling was in the third grade, the school I was in, they actually had a curling ring set up outside during the winter. And I can imagine as a 10 year old, I mean, you're probably not necessarily following and learning all the rules, because I know for us, when we had gym class, it was, all right, everybody slide on the ice and let's throw our bodies into it. I mean, but having a mother who was in the sport, I mean, did you learn the rules all right off the hop?
JILL OFFICER: That's a good question. I guess maybe I did, because when I was 10, I started playing in the league. So I would have had to know to a certain extent. I also had the opportunity to curl in the field out in the back of my elementary school. My gym teacher in elementary school was a big proponent of curling, and he did the jam pail curling with the jam cans and the ice out in the back and the painted rings. And I have great memories of that too. I think I was probably the only one at that age in my school or in my grade that had actually been on real curling ice. And so I guess I just knew the rules because I was around and I started playing at 10 years old. I don't necessarily remember specifically learning about them, probably just because I was around at all time.
COLIN HILDING: It's just ingrained in you from a very young age. That's the benefit you have over me. I mean, I could have been in the Olympics, but definitely no chance of being in the Olympics in any sport. Now, when you did get chosen by Jennifer Jones, I mean, had she been competing at a higher level at that point, or was it still just a lot of local stuff?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, so when Jennifer Jones asked me to play with her, I was still trying to find my way to a provincial championship. I was skipping my team, and we had actually played against Jennifer a couple of times and never had the success of beating her or whatever team she was on, nor did we have the success of getting to the provincial. So when she asked me to play, she had already won a provincial championship. So not only had she competed in a couple of provincials, but she had won a provincial junior championship and had competed at the Canadian championship. So I knew of her and I knew very well of her. So I was a bit starstruck actually when she pulled me aside and asked me if I would consider joining a team with her. So I could have said yes right away, but at that age, it's like 15 or 16 years old, it's like, well, I should probably talk to my parents and I'm gonna need to use the car a little more. And it was a little bit bigger of a commitment. So I talked to my parents and I got back to her and I can't believe what that moment led to, honestly. Like just that moment of her asking me to join forces and thinking of what we went on to accomplish, it's kind of crazy.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, I mean, that could have been like the quickest impulse reaction a 16 year old ever had is a yes, yes, no other questions. And then the parents ask the questions later on, that might have been a little bit of a problem.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that could have been definitely a problem, but my parents were super supportive and they always have been. And yeah, I was just really lucky that they saw value in sport as well.
COLIN HILDING: At that point, was curling an Olympic sport, because it didn't become an Olympic sport until Nagano in 1998. So what was like the peak that you thought you could reach at that point?
JILL OFFICER: Well, yeah, that's a great question, because I think that it's just so normal now that curling is part of the Olympics. But you're right, at that moment, when Jennifer Jones asked me to curl with her, there was never a goal of trying to get to the Olympics, because it wasn't an Olympic sport. That would have been around 91, I think it was. 91, 92, I think was the first year that Jennifer and I played together. I don't remember exactly when curling was announced as an official sport. I know it was a demonstration sport in 1988, and it was a demonstration sport in 92 and 94 maybe, or 92 at least anyway. So it wasn't really something that I thought about, because it just didn't seem to be a reality. The idea at the time was, oh yeah, let's see if we can win a provincial junior championship, and boy, it would be great to compete at the Scotties one day. Watching all these women play at this high level at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts was just, it was amazing. And so no, in answer to your question, it wasn't, going to the Olympics was not something that I thought about at that time. It wasn't really until we had the opportunity to meet Sandra Schmurler and her team, who they were the first ones to win from Canada. They won the Olympic gold medal at the initial games in 1998 in Nagano that you mentioned. And I don't think it was until we actually got to know them a little bit that I started thinking, okay, maybe this is something that could happen down the road.
COLIN HILDING: I'm not going to say anything yet, just in case we jinx ourselves, but we are hoping to speak to another curler who was there during 98. Now, I'm very interested to find out what it was like to be in the first Olympics ever. But I mean, were you a spectator of the sport? Do you remember watching in Nagano the first time?
JILL OFFICER: Yes, I remember watching the Olympic Trials, which took place in Brandon, Manitoba, to qualify the teams to go to the Olympics in Nagano. So I remember watching Sandra Schmiller and her team, and Mike Harris and his team win those games, and then they went on to compete at the games in Nagano. And I mean, with the time change and stuff, I'm thinking I must have not been able to watch a ton, but you see a lot of replays and stuff like that. So I certainly do remember watching. And by that point, we had already had the opportunity to have some interaction with Sandra Schmiller and her team. So to have that, to have the opportunity to get to know them a little bit and then watch them play in the Olympics was like, that was crazy to me. I mean, you know, I remember looking up to their team, and they were so kind to us. And, you know, over the few years that we got to know them. And so to watch them go on and win the Olympics was just, I don't know, it was just there was something about that that just made me go, okay, maybe this isn't, you know, maybe I could strive for this, you know?
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, I can very well remember watching. I mean, that was basically, that and snowboarding is the new sports was like, myself and my brother like, oh, we got to watch like every moment of this because we've never seen it before. I mean, it also, the thing is with curling is that I wouldn't say it's considered, you know, an obscure, fringe sport, but I mean, it's especially coming from Canada, I guess specifically Manitoba, you know, it is a bigger deal. But there are obviously a lot of people at the time just didn't and probably still to this day don't understand. I remember in Sochi, there was a lot of commentary on the fact, maybe you could speak to that later, about the even the crowd who was there on site, just not understanding the game. Now, just to kind of start with, I mean, you have four people on a team, but there are big differences, even though you'll all sort of take your turns. I mean, can you kind of run it through the positions and you know, what everybody's different duties are?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, well, yes, you mentioned there's four people on a team. There's the lead or the first thrower, the second, the third, which is also sometimes called the vice. And then there's the skip, which a lot of people would compare the skip to a quarterback in football, or maybe even a goalie in hockey. They're kind of the ones that, they're the ones that have the last opportunity to score the points for the team. And the roles with the positions have changed over the years because there's been some rule changes in our sport that have made it more interesting, have made it more strategic, and have made it more fun to watch. So the lead and the second, years ago, it was a lot more simple. There was, you hit a rock out of play type thing. But now, the lead is super important for setting up the end, putting the rocks in a good position to start out the end. The second is also part of that, builds on it. The third then builds on it again, and then you hopefully, if your first three players have made good, precise shots, then hopefully your skip has a good, like an easier type shot to score a number of points. And basically, if people that are listening, if they can think of a bullseye from, maybe if you don't know much about curling, if you think about it like a bullseye from a target, like from archery, it's a little bit like that, and we're trying to get our rocks closest to the middle. That target is called the house, and we try to get our rocks closest to the middle, and the more rocks we have closer to the middle than anybody else, that's the more points that we get. That's a very simple way to explain it.
COLIN HILDING: I mean, you competed in so many tournaments over the years, but I would guess the world championships, I guess the first year world championships probably would have been the peak at that point. Which year was the first time you won the world championship?
JILL OFFICER: The first time we won the world championship was 2008. The first time we competed in the world championship was 2005. So yeah, we went to the world championship in 2001. We went to the Scotties, which is our national championship. We went to the Scotties in 2005, and that was our first Scotties, and we won it on what most people would claim to be the best shot ever seen in such a pressure moment in our sport. It was super exciting. And then we went on to compete at the world championships and lost in the playoffs, and it was a very challenging world championship. So it's not really the one that sticks out to me as the best or most fun. But yeah, the first one that we won was actually in 2008, and that was in Canada, and it was a complete, completely different than the one we played in in 2005. So yeah, it was so amazing. And I remember that world championship was sort of the first world championship that a team from China had done so extremely well. Like that's who we played in the final of the Worlds that year. And three years earlier, they weren't even, they were barely making it to, barely qualifying for the world championship. So yeah, the first one that we won was really, yeah, it was great. It was amazing.
COLIN HILDING: And only one team gets to represent each country, is that right?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, one team represents each country, and each country determines that in a different way. Some countries have playoffs for declaring their teams like we do. We have a national championship that declares our teams. And then there's other countries that maybe don't have the same depth of curling in their country, and so they may only have one team that has any sort of experience or chance, and so they may just end up being selected. So it just sort of depends on the things that each country is dealing with as to how they declare their representative.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, I was going to ask about that, because it seems like there are certain countries who will send the same team every single year, every single world championship, every single Olympics. But it's always such a nail-biter here in Canada, because there is such a huge depth with the talent, and we'll get there eventually. But I mean, even missing out on Pyeongchang, I mean, I remember kind of being shocked at that, but I'm like, but look at all the other teams there are, you know? With Canada, I mean, have you experienced that frustration of, you know, we were this close to making it to a world championships or making it to an Olympics? I mean, you know, even if you want to speak now about Pyeongchang and having to miss out just by a hair.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, really, like, we lost in the semifinal of our Olympic trials to go to Pyeongchang, and I think that was, you know, in the big picture, I've had an amazing career in curling, and it's, you know, on one hand, it's like, how can I complain about not going to the Olympics, right, to Pyeongchang when, in fact, we went to Sochi and we won a gold medal, right? But at the same time, when you get the taste of going to the Olympics and that there's only one, if I recall correctly, there's only one team in our sport that has successfully defended their Olympic title. And that was the NetNorbergs team from Sweden, who won in 2006 and again in 2010 in Vancouver. And I really wanted to do that. Like, that was my personal thing, was like, I really wanted to defend our Olympic title. So when we lost the semifinal of our Olympic trials to go to Pyeongchang, you know, it was really, it was disappointing to me for two reasons. One, that we wouldn't, you know, I felt like our team was good enough and we'd had the success. I felt like, you know, we could have, I don't want to say easily, but I felt like we could have defended our title. Like, we had put in, you know, the work. I felt like we were good enough. And then the other part to me, for me personally, was just that I knew I was nearing the end of my career and that that was probably the last chance that I would get to compete at the Olympics. So it was disappointing, but I remember a fellow curler saying to me, well, aren't you just grateful that you had the opportunity to play at the Olympics? Like, a lot of people don't get that. And I was like, yeah, absolutely. But that also made me want to compete at the Olympics again. You know, so it was, for me, I think it was tough to lose, to go to Pyeongchang, you know, but I'm kind of a believer a lot of times that things happen for a reason. And I look back, and I just think what sort of impact that might have, I know what winning the Olympics the first time and the impact it had on my life. To do it again, it would be, it would have been a challenge in some ways, not to say that I wouldn't have taken it if we had gone and competed there again.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, for sure. Now, one of the things I think that people don't understand about curling is, when you're looking at it on the surface, you're like, okay, so they stand there, they study, they throw a rock, and I think for the longest time, people had this misperception that like, curlers are like bowlers, you know? You don't necessarily have to be in shape, but I mean, when you start to look at like the athletes that go into these Olympics, and I remember, it was either Sochi or Pyeongchang, once social media really started picking up and following a lot of athletes and seeing like their workouts and all that, like curlers have to be in incredible shape. I mean, what is the training process physically like to actually get ready to compete at a high level?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, so I'll preface all this by saying that my career was long enough, and I sort of went through a variety of changes in the game, you know, and one of the ones which we already spoke about in terms of, you know, our sport becoming an Olympic sport in 1998. So when I started curling, like there wasn't really a lot of, there was really no focus on the fitness aspect and all that sort of stuff. And then when it became an Olympic sport, it meant we had more resources, it meant we had more funding, but with it came expectation to do a certain amount of things. So, you know, over my career, I think it was actually after we won the Nationals, the Scotties in 2005, that we really saw resources coming our way and a focus for us to, you know, get in shape. And not to say that we weren't in shape, especially with how much we played, but it was just, you know, the office training is just a different aspect of it. So we really got into it, and it really sort of became part of the job. It became part of the gig. It became part of the expectation. And I think that that was important because I think over time, it improved my ability to sweep. It improved my ability to throw, like to throw rocks at a high speed. And it improved my endurance, you know? And so you really started to see the effects of it. And that started to increase a lot in the sport. And we've really seen that the last maybe two cycles especially, that, you know, that it has such an impact and, yeah, it's just... So in terms of the training that we've done, or that's important for curling, it's really sort of a whole variety of things. We do a lot of single leg and single arm stuff because we have imbalances. Usually if you're sweeping, you have a dominant arm. And then when you're sliding out of the hack, you have one leg that's better at balance, the other one's sometimes better at power. So you're trying to minimise those imbalances in the gym sometimes while focusing on balance and strength and power for getting out of the hack. A lot of core strength, like a ton of core stuff for sweeping, back, like lats and shoulders and triceps. Triceps are huge. A lot of curlers have one tricep bigger than the other because of having a dominant arm, like usually your down arm is your dominant arm for sweeping. So it's really a whole body thing with extra focus on, you know, power out of the hack, balance, and that core stuff for sweeping is really, really, really huge.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, you know, on the surface, it would look like, okay, you're sweeping, but I mean, you know, you're from Winnipeg, I'm from Winnipeg, and we spend seven months of the year with snow on the ground. Lucky, it's almost at the end of March, and I've got like a small patch of ice in the back, but I mean, I spent so much of the time in the winter just shoveling. You're shoveling for five minutes, and you come in and your arms are sore for three days, you know, you're wiped out. And I can't even imagine the amount of sweeping we can have to do and the speed that you do it, like how draining that could be. I mean, have you ever suffered like an injury and you know, whether it was during a match or even in training, and then how does that affect you?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, mostly in curling, I think it's a lot of chronic problems. Usually we see in curling, we see a lot of knee problems, sometimes hip problems or hip problems that cause knee problems, shoulders, a lot of shoulders, and I've had some back issues and shoulder issues and hip problems. Those have kind of all been my chronic things. I remember my shoulder becoming a problem when I was curling with Jennifer Jones, actually, in the first couple of years, because I put so much effort into the sweeping, but didn't know enough about, positioning or the best way to function. And so I had some bad habits that caused me some problems that ultimately got better over the years, but we're still always sort of nagging. But those are some of the common things that we see for sure in curling. And I will say too that, for people who don't know the sport, and a lot of people look at it and think it must be easy and things like that, and I can understand that. I'll also say that I have taught a lot of athletes how to curl. Athletes, like elite athletes, bobsledders, skeleton, football, hockey players. And it doesn't matter what kind of athlete we've taught to curl. They always come back the next day or two days later, and they're like, wow, I didn't know that I had those growing muscles. Wow, I didn't know that I had those muscles. Like, you know, curling uses a lot of the deep stability muscles, I call them too. And, you know, so I would encourage people to go out and try it because it's a good lifelong sport to be involved in, and it's a great social sport too.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, there's a reason why it's taught in gym class in Manitoba school. It is very physically active, especially in the winter when there's not much else you could really do to stay physically active.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, that's great, yeah.
COLIN HILDING: Now, you were with Jennifer Jones, I think the longest of anybody, and there have been, I guess, little shakeups here and there. Caitlin Laws comes in at one point, Don McEwen comes in another point. But how does it actually come together as far as forming the team? At the time you started, you're still a teenager. Jennifer Jones could probably just ask somebody, but once you get to that higher level where you're competing at the Scotties and the World Championships, is there more to it? Does a coach have a say? Does Team Canada have any say?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, that's a really interesting thing about curling. I sometimes say that we're stuck between an amateur sport and a professional sport. So in curling, it really comes down to the teams and who they believe is going to be the best fit. I think that, and I think because we're only four members, that the dynamic between those four members is really important. So in curling, it's typically the teammates. It's typically the team members that make the changes, the team members that decide who might be the best for a certain position and things like that. It's not that we, when we get to that high level, we can certainly take, we certainly would take input from our coaches and from Team Canada coaches, Team Canada personnel, like with the national team program, we would take all sorts of input. And I know we did take input in a variety of ways, but it does come down to the teammate, to the team members. I think there's sometimes a perception out there that it falls on the skip. And I think it just falls on the skip because they're also the ones that get the most media attention. But truly on our team, any sort of choice or decision that we made around that was truly a team decision, and it was never an easy decision. And you weigh the pros and cons, and you try to figure out what is best for your team. You try to make the best decisions that you can with the information that you have. And I remember we consulted our sports psychologists as well through those times that we made tough team decisions. And yeah, it's kind of the professionalism of our sport now, and yet it falls on the teams to make that choice. And I think you would probably hear some debate on what's better. I kind of like having, not that I like having to do, you know, having to let teammates go, but I like that the team has that responsibility. I wouldn't necessarily want that to fall on somebody else's shoulders.
COLIN HILDING: That's something that came up, you know, I think it was in Salt Lake City or Turin. One of the Olympics where Wayne Gretzky, I think, was still involved with the men's hockey team, the early criticism is that they took so many losses, but it was put together kind of by a board. You didn't have like this consensus. I think that's one of the things that curling does have over hockey, is that you do have a say in who you're playing with. I mean, I can imagine if they just put this team together, well, here's the four best that we think they're right. You could have somebody that you just don't get along with, somebody just doesn't understand your rhythm, your dynamic. I mean, you don't have to name names or anything, but I'm sure you've had some teammates over the years. You're like, you know, this just isn't working.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, for sure, 100%. And, you know, sometimes teams outgrow themselves too, right? And when I think back to the experiences that we had, I think there's just sometimes where it's like you need a change. And, you know, like, yeah, I always thought that about the hockey as well, is like, you know, they would come together for a very short period of time before the Olympic Games, and there was just no time to gel, no time to bond. And I don't know that I think they do it a little bit differently now, probably because they've learned from that. But I really think with the small size of a curling team, the dynamics are really, really important on a curling team. And I think they're like, you know, we could get into this debate too, but I think they're probably more important on a women's team, you know? And I have talked to curlers about this. I've always said that men have this ability to, you know, kind of have a debate or have it out with each other, and then they sit down and have a beer five minutes later. And women just, we're a little bit different in that way. Like we just, you know, we hold on to things maybe a little longer, or it takes us longer to sort of move through those emotions of a certain situation. And so the dynamics on a men's team versus a women's team are also different. But because it's such a small group, you really have to take that into consideration. And we have seen in the past in our sport where not as much in Canada, really, but we have seen some countries make selections for a team, and it has never worked out for them. It's never been sort of successful in selecting certain players to be part of a team. I just think the dynamic is too important in curling. And so I still like the fact that the curling teams get to decide who is on their team and who they play with.
COLIN HILDING: Going to Sochi for the first time, what was the feeling like when you're like, okay, I'm going to be an Olympian? And did you always have that aspiration? One of those things I want to check off my list is I want to be an Olympian.
JILL OFFICER: Well, yeah, like we spoke about earlier, it wasn't really a consideration to go to the Olympics when I was in junior curling because it was just kind of creeping up on the 1998 games where it was an official sport. So it wasn't really a consideration at that time. But then after the 98 games happened and things, our team started to improve and compete in different capacities. And you start thinking about it a little bit more. And then I think certainly once we won the Scotties, the national championship in 2005, that actually qualified us to compete in our first Olympic trials event, which is essentially like our national championship to go to the Olympics. But you qualify for it differently. You qualify for it based on rankings more so. So I think when we qualified for that first Olympic trials, that's when it really kind of started to become... Because it's like, okay, we just won the Scotties. We could play these teams and win the Olympic trials maybe too, right? And our first couple of goes at the Olympic trials were a bit of a challenge. So we made team changes in through there, and then Caitlin Laws came on our team in 2010, and we started to build and learn from our past, and started to build trying to get to 2014. And at that time, I remember thinking this might be my last quad. Obviously, I went one more quad after that. But then the Olympic Trials were announced to be in Winnipeg, which was our home city. And that just kind of, I don't know, I think in my mind when I look back at it, it kind of gave me a little bit extra motivation, like the opportunity to play in our large NHL arena here in Winnipeg, and to play our Olympic Trials in there. So we were ready, we were prepared, we used the crowd to our advantage, and I remember the day that we are playing our final, it wasn't until 6.30 at night. So we had all day, like we had, we had I think a 30 or 40 minute practice at the arena earlier in the day. But I remember all day just having these butterflies in my stomach. I was so nervous and I was so excited, but it was an excited nervous where I was, I just wanted to get out on the ice. Like I was more ready to play that game than I had ever been for any other game in my entire life. And I was just, I was like, get me out on the ice. Like I just could not wait to get on the ice. And you know what? It was the game of my life. I played 99% contributed to my team winning that game. And I just remember being so elated to be an Olympian. I think someone might have even said that right after we won. We're Olympians. We're Olympian. It doesn't matter what we do with the Olympics. Nobody can take that away from us. We are Olympians for life. How cool. It was just, it was so surreal at the moment. And it was so special because our hometown crowd, we got on that podium. They surprised us with Canada jackets. And then I actually remember the girl who sang the national anthem during that closing ceremony was actually a fellow Olympian from Winnipeg, Michelle Sawatsky. Yeah, Michelle Sawatsky. She competed on the Canadian volleyball team at the 96 Atlanta Games. And she's a very, very talented musician as well. And so she sang the national anthem. And I remember feeling like that was special because now, you know, this fellow Olympian had sung the national anthem.
COLIN HILDING: Inducted you into the club.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, really, it was kind of like that. And then I just remember we went to, you know, the patch afterwards, like where there's kind of the social gathering for curling, and we got up on stage. It was so exciting. And then I just, you know, sometimes we I think forget about that time where we actually became Olympians, because then we of course went on to win the gold medal a couple of months later. And that started to kind of overshadow the fact that we had actually won the trials at home in Winnipeg, and how special that was.
COLIN HILDING: What you guys did in Sochi, I mean, it just seems to be one level on top of the other, you know, because as much as we could just say, okay, you were gold medallist, I mean, you broke history at the same time, because you guys went undefeated to go on to win that gold medal, which really had never been done before. And I think still to this day, you know, when you're talked about, it's the undefeated gold medallist. Obviously, you know, in order to even get to a gold medal match, you know, you have to have very few losses. But at what point did you start to even realise, hey, we haven't lost anything. And did that ever even clue into you, you know, oh, we could actually set two records here, you know, we could be undefeated and win a gold medal?
JILL OFFICER: During that time that never, I don't think it ever crossed my mind. I don't remember it ever crossing my mind. I don't think it was that it was either after the round Robin or even maybe just after we won the gold medal. I do remember Jen saying, you guys, you know how they show you the fonts on the bottom of the TV and when someone breaks a record, it says, oh, our like Olympic record. She goes, that's us. Like we broke like Olympic record. Like she goes, that's always going to be us. And the thing with that too is that nobody, unless they add teams to the Olympics for the women's curling, nobody can ever break that. Like nobody can ever break that. They could tie it, but no one technically could ever break that. And so I do remember her saying that and thinking, oh yeah, I never, I didn't really think about, you know, I didn't really think about that and what that meant or anything. And you know, I don't remember thinking that at all through the games. I, the funny thing is I look back and I know we had a couple of extra end games and we had, you know, some close games or whatever. But when I look back at the event as a whole, I only remember being worried twice, and they were both in the gold medal game. You know, because the Swedish team that we played was putting some pressure on us, and, you know, Kaitlyn and I were both struggling a little bit with a few things. So, you know, that was the only time that I remember feeling worried or concerned that this was not going to work out. So when I look at that and I think, wow, like we were in a really sort of comfortable, somewhat comfortable position, that I just always had that belief that we were going to be able to win that particular game, or that we were going to be able to make it to the playoffs, or, you know, et cetera, et cetera, as we went on. And I mean, we had a skip that was playing lights out for, I don't know, a year and a half.
COLIN HILDING: The crowd is something I kind of mentioned earlier. You know, you're used to some crazy crowds, you know, in Manitoba, I guess anywhere in Canada, really. But I do remember at the time in Sochi, a very big deal being made about how big the crowds were for curling, and how crazy they kind of were. I mean, was the Sochi crowd different than what you've experienced in other countries away from Canada?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, they were different. I mean, yeah, we were certainly used to the noise and that type of thing, but the difference was that the lack of understanding about the game itself. And so often there were shots being cheered that you wouldn't normally cheer for, and then there were, you know, misses that were happening, that were being cheered for, that typically you wouldn't. So it was just, you kind of had to adjust to that, especially when the Russian teams were playing, because, you know, they just cheered for anything that the Russians did. But the strategy in curling sometimes allows you to have an end where there's no points scored, and so a team might just throw their rock away or throw it through the target because they don't want to score a point. And the Russian fans would think that that was a miss, whereas that was what they were actually trying to do. So it was just like we kind of had to adjust to that, but the fact that there was people there and the crowd was there and they were watching and they were engaged, like, you know, whether it was right or wrong, the fact that they were there and it was so noisy was awesome.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, I think it was Anna Sidorova. She was the Russian who brought a lot of the crowds in, right? But at the same time, you could say, you know, I helped to educate these new fans. I brought these new fans into the sport, and they got to see the best play.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, and that's 100% what it is, especially in some of those countries, right? It's just about getting people out and getting people in the building to engage with the game and learn about it.
COLIN HILDING: Now, what was the moment like where you won the gold medal? I mean, because curling, I guess, is a little bit different. You know, obviously, there are some close moments here or there, but you probably, I guess, similar to hockey, can have a bit of a heads up. You know, we've got this in the bag. It's not so much down to the wire the way it would be in a race. Does that help you so that, you know, you don't have that moment of just complete panic? You know, you can kind of ease into it, and then is the celebration any different, you feel?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, you know, I think there are a couple of different ways, like, that you can win a championship in curling, and I'll give you examples. So our semifinal win in the Olympics came down to the wire, and so in the playoff system in curling at the Olympics, there's four teams that make the playoffs. The number one ranked team plays the fourth ranked team, and then two plays three. So we were the number one ranked team, played the fourth ranked team, which was Great Britain, and a lot of people thought that that would be the gold medal game. So to play them in the semi was kind of a big deal. And that came down to the final rock of the game, where we had to put it really close to the middle. You know, for those people who don't know curling, we had to get it really close to the middle. And for those who do know curling, it was the draw to the forefoot. So when that rock stopped in the forefoot and we won the game, we were just so excited because it meant we were in the gold medal game, but it also meant that we guaranteed ourselves a medal. And that was huge, and it was probably some relief, but it was just so exciting to win in that second, in that moment, and all the emotion that came out in that moment. Then we moved on to the gold medal game, which, yeah, it was a little bit sketchy in a couple of moments in that game. But what happened was that in the ninth end, ends are kind of like innings, and in curling, we play ten ends. So in the ninth end, the Swedish team missed, and we actually what we call stole a couple of points. So we were up three points going into the final end, and that was a reasonably good lead at that time with the rules that we had in place. So we were pretty confident, I think, at that time that we were going to win the gold medal, and it was just sort of a matter of going through the motions of making sure that we were eliminating our opposition's rocks in that final end. So that celebration was a little bit different because it was like we already kind of knew that we were going to win, but we couldn't necessarily celebrate it because it wasn't necessarily appropriate. So we kind of had to wait. And so when that final rock came down and we won, the emotion didn't explode quite the same way. It was still there. We were screaming, hugging, yelling, et cetera, but it was a little bit different because the pressure was different in that very moment because we figured that we'd already won. So there certainly is a little bit of difference, but still winning. I mean, I don't know which way is better. Like, it's exciting to win it on last rock, but it's kind of nice to have that padding of points, too.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, you want to feel comfortable.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, I'll take it any way I can get it.
COLIN HILDING: Now, in Winnipeg here, I mean, we've had other Olympians who've come back. We've had, you know, great cups and stuff like that. But I don't remember any other time outside of maybe when the Blue Bombers won the great cup pose a year or two ago where there was as much fanfare of, like, an athlete coming home after a championship. What was the experience like coming back afterwards? Because this was all over the news. I think I even remember, wasn't there, like, people at the airport there to greet you? I mean, it was like celebrities coming home. I mean, what was that like?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, and, you know, I've often looked back at that and thought, well, why were we any different from, you know, the many other Olympians and medallists that came before us? And I think one of the big things is that, well, first of all, curling gets a lot of publicity here in Manitoba and in Canada in general. So I think that was part of it. I think the other part of it is a lot of Olympians that are from Manitoba have to go out of province and centralise with their teams or with their programs in order to get to the Olympics. So they go to Calgary or they go to Vancouver, they go to Montreal or Toronto, whatever it is. They have to centralise somewhere else in order to achieve that dream. Whereas with curling, we can live where we were born and raised, right? So I think that there was an aspect of that to it, is that people saw us out in the community. And I mean, we had, you know, reasonable amount of fanfare probably prior to that, because we'd won a number of Scotty's championships and had a lot of media coverage. But it was certainly on another level when we won the Olympics and to come home to that. And I do think that's partly because we live and train in Winnipeg, and not most other Olympians don't do that. So when we came home, it was, I remember we landed in Winnipeg, I think. It was like maybe 9.30 or 10 o'clock at night. There was one of the news stations from Winnipeg was broadcasting their whole newscast from the Winnipeg airport. They had the red carpet rolled out. There was 300, like literally, red carpet rolled out for us. There was like 300 people there, kids that were up late. And the funny thing was is that in Winnipeg that night, it was like minus 45 degrees Celsius. It was so cold. And yet all these people came out. They brought their kids that should have been in bed. Like I said, the news people were there. It took us over two hours to get out of the airport that night. Somebody grabbed our bags for us because we couldn't even make it to the carousel to get our bags because there were so many people that wanted to meet and greet us. It was amazing. It was so, so cool and so special to have that opportunity. It was really, really cool.
COLIN HILDING: You're completely right. I hadn't even thought about that. I talked to John Montgomery. You'll see him over my shoulder here. But last summer, I was excited. I'm like, okay, he was a Manitoba athlete. And his story about Manitoba is like, yeah, when I got the call that I would be on the skeleton team, I was standing in the Polo Park Parquet. After that, I was in Alberta and I never came back. But you get to come back here. You get to train here. I mean, your faces are a mural on the side of a curling club that I used to walk past every single day. I mean, that's crazy.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And yeah, the mural is beautiful on the side of our curling club. And then I think, too, when we returned home from the Olympics, there we were at the grocery store or at the mall or back at the curling club, right? Like it was like... And so I think people just almost felt like... And in curling, we often get people say, oh, I feel like I know you because you're on my TV all the time. And so then when they see us shopping for groceries three weeks after winning the Olympics, it's just almost mind-boggling to them. But I also think it's a connection for our community to have to us.
COLIN HILDING: Now, you already touched on Pyeongchang, and not going to make that of me, but those games were also historic because it was the first time. I can't remember what it was called. Is it called Pairs or Mixed? Mixed Doubles, yeah. Now, obviously, Caitlin Laws would go on to win, and I guess, okay, the next Olympics there. But I only remember watching the qualifying for the finals. So was that something you competed or you tried out for, or did you even have a thought about doing that?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, so with the Mixed Doubles, it's something I think that it's evolving and sort of growing on how to get people involved and how to sort of have our best players be able to play Mixed Doubles as well. So there's some challenges in there with that. So leading up to the Pyeongchang Games, what happened was that anybody who, any of the players on either of the men's or women's teams that won the Olympic trials, like the four-person Olympic trials, were not going to be allowed to also compete in Mixed Doubles because basically our association decided that they didn't feel like that made sense in terms of the fatigue that it might cause or having to focus on one thing and then switch to focus on the other thing. And so they had made that decision. So anybody who won in the four players, they were not allowed to compete in the Mixed Doubles. So that left some of the Mixed Doubles players without partners at the time. And so those Mixed Doubles players that qualified for the Olympic trials, the Mixed Doubles Olympic trials, were then allowed to ask another top player to come and join them. So what happened with me was, I hadn't played a ton of Mixed Doubles, but Reid Carruthers, a fellow Manitoban, his partner was Joanne Courtney, who played with Rachel Homan's team. And Rachel Homan's team had won the Women's Olympic trials. So Joanne was not going to be able to play in the Mixed Doubles Olympic trials, so Reid asked if I would step in and play. And I was like, yeah, another chance to maybe go to the Olympics? Like, you know, this would be great. So, you know, Reid and I started doing a lot of work and practice. And that's the thing is, you know, in your four-person game, you're literally spending like three or four years working up to those Olympic trials. But the Mixed Doubles game, it's a little bit different because there's less competition, although it's getting better. And there's just less focus on it. Like most top players are still focused on their four-person team. So we did what we could in that short period of time. And you know what? Caitlin Laws and John Morris, who ended up winning the gold medal in Pyeongchang, they were in the same boat. Like they didn't have much time to play together. They hadn't spent time on the ice together. So it was just kind of the way it was for that year. And Reid's a good friend of mine, and I had a great time playing with him. And, you know, we did fairly well. I think we made the final eight, maybe, because there was a lot more teams in the mixed doubles event. But that was a bit disappointing, too, but to not have that chance, because boy, I would have loved to, you know... Another first. Yeah, to be the first, but to have that opportunity. And I really wanted to win it for Reid. You know, I just thought he was such a great guy, and I just wanted to win it for Reid, but it just didn't work out for us, so...
COLIN HILDING: Now you did choose to step away competitively, but I mean, tell us what you're up to now, because now you've transitioned into the coach role. So potentially another trip to the Olympics at some point in the near future. Who knows? I mean, how did you transition into that? And then I guess, you know, how's it been going as a coach now?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, well, I did coach last year. I coached my niece's team, who actually competed against for years as well, which is difficult. But I did coach them for a short period of time, but I didn't commit to them for a longer period of time because I felt like I was in sort of my own transition period of trying to sort out what I want to do when I grow up, sort of say. So, you know, for people who know a lot about sport and athletes and stuff, often retiring from your sport or stepping away from that elite play can often pose a lot of challenges. And there's a very significant transition period there for that retirement phase. And I have certainly felt a lot of those. So I stepped away from the game in 2018. The following year, I was still the alternate or spare player for Team Jones. So I accompanied them to a couple of events, and I filled in at a couple of events. But I also at the time got on with one of our national broadcasters here as a curling analyst. So I was doing some curling analyst work, which was really nice to see the game from that standpoint and also still be around the game. And then I did a little bit of coaching. And I filled in on my niece's team for one of the girls that was pregnant. So I've been playing a little bit. And then I was doing the analyst stuff. And now when COVID hit, obviously that changed a lot of things. And I have actually gone back to school, and I'm in university taking kinesiology. And my plan is to get into a master's program for mental performance so that I can use my experience and then layer on my education to help other athletes in various challenges and transition periods in their careers. So I've kind of been dabbling in a whole variety of things since stepping away from that top level play. But what I do know is that I love the sport, and I love being involved in the sport, and it's sort of where my community is, and I want to keep that connection.
COLIN HILDING: It's always great when we talk to these athletes who have retired that there's so many great opportunities for things you can do afterwards, whether it be commentary or speaking engagements and things like that. What's really crazy to me is, what was the thing you said when you went back to study? I can never pronounce it. Kinesiology. I've got a nephew who's going to be studying that in the fall. Hey, you could be a classmate of my nephew. If you are, tell him I said hi. You might talk to him before I do. We just have a quick fire final series of questions we're going to get to. But just before we ask that, we always have to ask, do you keep your Olympic medal somewhere special?
JILL OFFICER: I wouldn't necessarily call it special, but it's in a safe. We have a safe here. I don't know. I've sometimes thought it would be nice to display it, but it feels so valuable at the same time that you don't want to just necessarily have it out in the open. But I don't know. I know some people have more of a connection to the actual medal than others. But for right now, it lives in my safe. And when I do get to take it out because I'm showing somebody or making an appearance, I think it's pretty special. And I have a hard time believing that it's mine sometimes. I can imagine. And yet at the same time, I'm thankful that they give it to you because it reminds me of what we accomplished.
COLIN HILDING: Now, just for our final series of questions here, I don't even know if this is something you've been exposed to before because we actually borrow this from Team Canada's website. Before every Olympics, they will give a series of questions, some of them sports related, some of them not, to the athletes, so they literally fill out by hand. So we're going off of what's handwritten by other athletes. Did you ever do these My Name Is questionnaires, whether you've got on the site or not?
JILL OFFICER: No, I don't think I have.
COLIN HILDING: Oh, good. Well, I love when we get to be the first for these, too. Okay, so this is just off the top of your head. Some of them silly, some of them not. First of all, my favourite Olympic moment is... This could be your own or somebody else's.
JILL OFFICER: Oh, yeah, probably... Probably the draw to the forefoot in the... I'll say the draw to the forefoot in the semifinal to guarantee a medal.
COLIN HILDING: Oh, good. I always like it when it's somebody's own, too. If I could have any superpower, it would be...
JILL OFFICER: Oh, man. Unbelievable patience.
COLIN HILDING: Oh, as a...
JILL OFFICER: The first thought that I'm thinking is like, God, it would be nice to have just unlimited patience when you have a child.
COLIN HILDING: I was going to say, I would say fly, but now that you've mentioned that, that's my new wannabe superpower. I've got the twins that I got to deal with here. My favourite sports movie is...
JILL OFFICER: Oh. Oh, what was the name of it? Oh, we used to watch this all the time, our junior team. It was... Oh, was it called The Cutting Edge or something?
COLIN HILDING: Oh, the ice skating one?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, the ice skating one that almost is like the Battle of the Blades that they have now, where it's like they... I was a hockey player who ended up pairing up with a figure skater and stuff like that. And yeah, I used to watch that one all the time.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, we have that on our list to cover before the next Winter Olympics. Just kind of do a one-off on that. Did you ever see Men with Brooms? We actually covered that on another one of our podcasts, the Curly Movie. What are your thoughts on Men with Brooms?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, I did see it. It's been a long time since I've seen it. It would be funny to watch it again. But you know what? I just thought it was great that there was, you know, a movie done about our sport. Like, whether you liked the movie or not, it brought attention and at times continues to bring attention to our sport. And with the bit of star power that it had with...
COLIN HILDING: Paul Gross.
JILL OFFICER: Pardon me?
COLIN HILDING: Paul Gross.
JILL OFFICER: Well, yeah, Paul Gross and the other guy, the older guy.
COLIN HILDING: Oh, Leslie Nielsen, yeah.
JILL OFFICER: Leslie Nielsen, yeah, yeah, you know? So I just think it was great. I would love to watch it again, actually, just to see.
COLIN HILDING: This one, I'm curious if you have it, because we haven't talked to curlers before. I don't know if you do this, but my favourite pump-up song is... Do you have any pump-up music you use to get into game mode?
JILL OFFICER: No, nothing specific. Probably had more of that when I was younger, and then as I got older and got to know myself better as a competitor and stuff, I just never really wanted to specifically have headphones on. If there was music playing, I was okay with it. But really anything that got me moving, any sort of dance or dance-type music or anything that just had a good beat that made me want to move, that would be what it is.
COLIN HILDING: So maybe not Radiohead. That wouldn't be ideal for getting pumped up. We've never had Radiohead answer. That's funny. My most recent TV show that I binge-watched is... This is how I get my recommendations when I'm on vacation, so this is great.
JILL OFFICER: Schitt's Creek!
COLIN HILDING: Oh, yeah.
JILL OFFICER: Have you watched it yet?
COLIN HILDING: Oh, absolutely. I haven't finished the final season, though. I didn't have a chance to watch that, so I'm excited to catch up on that.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, Schitt's Creek. Definitely would recommend that.
COLIN HILDING: And a Canadian show, so yeah. My least favourite foods are...
JILL OFFICER: Coconut and black licorice.
COLIN HILDING: Oh, really? Black licorice, that's one that... I don't know if it's been answered on here, but I know a ton of people who just... They can't stand black licorice. I mean, I don't mind it. It wouldn't be my first choice, but yeah, it's not a popular one, is it?
JILL OFFICER: No, no. And coconut, I can taste the least... A little bit amount of coconut in it, and I can't stand it.
COLIN HILDING: My wife also hates coconut, so she's gonna love listening to this one. My favourite chip flavour is...
JILL OFFICER: Ooh, all dressed.
COLIN HILDING: All dressed? Now, I'm taking this questioner from Natalie Spooner, who is on the Sochi hockey team. She said ketchup, so I think that's kind of the black licorice of chip flavours, but I mean, if you're Canadian, you're at least exposed to it.
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, yeah, I do like ketchup as well, yeah.
COLIN HILDING: Dill pickle would be my number one any day, but all dressed has always been my number two, so I'm happy with that answer. If I weren't an athlete, then I would be.
JILL OFFICER: That is a tough question, actually. I'm going to say that I would probably be some sort of like television journalist reporter only because that's what I initially went to school for and worked as for a while until curling sort of took over. And I still have a connection to it, I guess, to some degree. So I'd probably be somewhere in that realm of stuff.
COLIN HILDING: People usually describe me as... How do people usually describe you? How do your teammates describe you? What's your position as the team second?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, probably chatty, outgoing. Chatty, outgoing, fun, honest, loyal.
COLIN HILDING: Everything we look for in a podcast guest, so that's perfect. The final question Natalie Spooner has all is drawing pictures, which if you have a chance, check it out. There's some hilarious pictures the athletes have to draw in here, but we're going to give you one which appears on almost all the questions here, which is, the greatest Olympian of all time is? And feel free to answer yourself.
JILL OFFICER: No, I mean, I have a hard time not pointing to like Michael Phelps or like Usain Bolt, you know, like, especially Michael Phelps. I mean, who wins 25 gold medals? You know what I mean? But at the same time, like, you know, that's a swimming is a discipline where you can compete in a number of races, right? Like, that's the thing with sports like curling is we only have, well, now we have two disciplines, you know, so, yeah, I would almost say Michael Phelps because like, it's the most common answer.
COLIN HILDING: Yeah, exactly. It's inhuman. It's not right. Jill, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on here today and to be able to discuss curling for the first time ever. I'm hoping you're going to be able to enjoy the spring weather out there, since we're actually experiencing spring weather right now a little bit earlier than normal. And if you wanted to, anything you want to plug as far as people following you on social media, where can they look for you?
JILL OFFICER: Yeah, my social media handles are all Jill Officer. I think it's lowercase on Instagram and at Jill Officer on Twitter. Yeah, other than that, thanks for having me.
COLIN HILDING: We look forward to seeing you again at some Olympics in the future, even if it's on the coaching side.
JILL OFFICER: Thanks.
COLIN HILDING: And huge thanks to Jill for doing the show with us here today and being able to introduce the great sport of curling to our listeners. And we're really excited as we're getting closer and closer to our 100th episode. We're hoping to be able to crack 100 episodes before the Tokyo Games, obviously. I'm sure we're gonna get there long before there. But this is a bit of a mini series because we have another curler coming on, which I believe we even mentioned who our next guest is in that interview, even though we didn't officially reveal who it is. But next week, we're gonna be talking to Mike Harris, who competed all the way back in the first ever Olympic Games that hosted curling in Nagano. And he went on to win the silver medal in Nagano. So that'll be a great interview. You can stay tuned for that next week. As well, listen to all our other recent interviews that we've had. Last week, there was a great chat with Brianna Walker, who is gonna be competing in the first ever mono bobsled. And as I already said, we have several big interviews lined up over the next couple of weeks as we get closer and closer to our 100th episode. And the 100th episode, we're gonna have everybody back on, myself, Ben, Jarrod, everybody. And eventually go all the way up to the Tokyo Games, which is gonna be our main event for this year. Thank you for listening, everybody. Make sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, wherever you find your shows. And of course, join us next week when we speak to Mike Harris from The Curling Silver Medallist in Nagano.
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