Cape Breton shines on world stage as Canada wins women’s curling gold

It was the perfect ending to a week when Sydney, N.S., took the national stage, and rocked it.

A near-sellout crowd at Centre 200 on Sunday evening gave Team Canada an extra boost in a nail-biting gold medal win over Switzerland at the 2024 World Women’s Curling Championship.

"It's just an arena I'll never forget," said Team Canada skip Rachel Homan shortly after the victory. “This week, the fans - I don't think there was an empty seat in the crowd."

"It's such a special building!” said Team Canada alternate Rachelle Brown, who also won gold in Sydney with Team Alberta at the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. “It's even more special now, and to do it with this amazing group of women."

From the outset of the championship, Curling Canada had high expectations for attendance and community support of the event that drew 12 teams, along with their families and fans, from around the globe.

"We'd love to see a butt in every seat for that game,” said Curling Canada’s Al Cameron ahead of the gold medal final.

They came close.

Final attendance numbers from Curling Canada came in at about 4,300 for the gold medal match and more than 45,000 for the entire tournament.

"It shows that we're curling fans here and it's time for them to bring in the men as well for the Brier,” said curling fan Cheryl Crawford during the gold medal match.

"I don't think we've seen a crowd like this here in a dog's age,” said Kurtis Deveaux, another fan.

It’s also been a long time since fans in Sydney witnessed a win of this magnitude.

The last time a home team won a major championship at Centre 200 was the Cape Breton Oilers' Calder Cup championship in 1993.

For fans who came from off-Island, it was worth the trip.

"I'm so happy, and we've had such an exciting weekend,” said Janet Stubbert, who came for the final weekend from the Halifax area. “Oh my God, fabulous - you have no idea."

When it was all over, teams from around the world saluted the home crowd and kids were able to meet their heroes.

While it was a week Rachel Homan and company were the toast of the town, the feeling was mutual - a statement about Cape Breton's ability to host big events.

"It's a week I'll never forget,” Homan said.” Sydney made us feel like home."

"Forever. I will forever have fond memories of this building and Sydney, Nova Scotia - it's just so special,” Brown added.

The 10-day world championship is also believed to have brought millions of dollars in spinoffs to the local economy.

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