Canadian curling trials highlight a packed Olympic sports weekend

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That's only a slight exaggeration. After a relatively quiet few weeks on the winter sports calendar, it suddenly seems like everything is going on at once. Get used to it. From here on out it's full-steam ahead to the Beijing Olympics, which officially open 11 weeks from today.

The marquee event this weekend is Canada's Olympic curling trials — maybe the most talked-about (and cutthroat) qualifier in the world. There's also a star-studded Grand Prix of Figure Skating stop, and we'll see if Canada's speed skaters can follow up on their stellar start to the World Cup season.

Here's what to watch in winter Olympic sports this weekend:

Curling: Canadian Olympic trials

The tournaments to decide who represents Canada in the men's and women's events in Beijing get underway Saturday in Saskatoon and conclude next Sunday (the mixed doubles trials are in January).

In recent years, there's been a lot of talk about how the rest of the world has "caught up" to Canada in curling, and the results support that to an extent. The sport's most powerful nation failed to win a medal in either the men's or women's events at the last Winter Olympics — the first time that's happened — and hasn't captured a world title since 2018. But Canada's depth remains the gold standard, and that's why the trials are so compelling.

Nine men's and nine women's teams are competing in Saskatoon, and arguably close to half of them would be favoured to win Olympic gold if they make it. The top contenders in the women's tournament are Kerri Einarson and Rachel Homan (they met in the last two Scotties finals, with Einarson winning both), Tracy Fleury (a Canadian-best 30-5 to start this season) and Jennifer Jones (six Scotties titles and Olympic gold in 2014). On the men's side, there's the Brads (Gushue, a three-time Brier winner and 2006 Olympic gold medallist; and Jacobs, the 2013 Brier winner and '14 Olympic champion), plus Kevin Koe (four-time Brier winner, 2018 Olympian) and Brendan Bottcher (the reigning Brier champ).

Gushue is the consensus men's favourite, but opinion is more split for the women. Einarson and Homan have the best blend of age and track record — they're both on the right side of 35, and Homan won three Scotties titles before losing the last two finals to Einarson. Jones is a legend who's still capable of being anyone on any given day, but at 47 she's on the downslope of her career. Fleury is the most intriguing. The 35-year-old has never reached a Scotties final, but her team is playing better than anyone in the country right now. Ken Pomeroy's statistical model rates them No. 1 in the country and gives them the best chance of winning the trials, slightly ahead of Homan and Einarson.

If you missed yesterday's newsletter, read more about Pomeroy's ratings and what he predicts for the trials here. Read CBC Sports curling reporter Devin Heroux's preview here. Join Devin and co-host Colleen Jones, live from Saskatoon, for the season premiere of That Curling Show tonight at 7 p.m. ET on the CBC Sports YouTube channel.

Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Internationaux de France

The second-last stop before the Grand Prix Final features several stars. The headliners are four-time world ice dance champions and Olympic gold-medal favourites Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France. They're back on home ice after sitting out the pandemic-marred 2020-21 season and then returning with a victory in Italy two weeks ago. The individual events are highlighted by reigning women's world champion Anna Shcherbakova of Russia and 2021 men's world championship silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan. They both won in Italy too, and had the lead after today's short programs in France.

Hoping to challenge Papadakis and Cizeron for ice-dance gold are Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who won at Skate Canada International in late October and look like Canada's best hope for a figure skating medal at the Beijing Olympics. They placed second, trailing Pap and Ciz, in today's opening round. The other Canadians competing are Keegan Messing (sixth after the men's short), and Vanessa James and Eric Radford (third after the pairs short).

Speed skating: Long and short track World Cups