Jon Thurston receives an enthusiastic send off by one hundred of his fellow Peterborough Curling Club members. This will be his second Paralympic competition for Jon whose team took home bronze in 2022. Jon is known for his marksmanship and calm under pressure.
Peterborough Curling Club held an enthusiastic send-off last week for Jon Thurston, one if its members who has headed to Milano to represent Canada in Paralympic Mixed Team Curling events. The club also announced that they are hosting a watch party on March 14th at 10 am, hoping to see him compete in the gold medal game in the mixed team group.
This is not an unrealistic expectation. In 2022, Jon was a member of the Canadian team that scored bronze in this event. Jon was credited for cinching the game for his team with two spectacular shots in the final end. He will join skip Mark Ideson who also returns to the Paralympics this year. Jon’s marksmanship and calm under pressure convinced his skip to have Thurston shoot last, a position traditionally held by the team skip. The Canadian Paralympic Committee has identified Jon as one of ten Paralympic athletes to watch, calling him Canada’s most dependable shooter.
Curling was not Jon’s first love. Prior to a construction accident in 2008 that left him in a wheelchair, Jon had never tried the sport. The story of his accident and recovery were published in a local newspaper. It caught the eye of curling Coach Carl Rennick, who approached Jon to join his competitive wheelchair team which was short a player. At first Jon was reluctant, committing only to meeting other team members before he would sign up. That went well, so he agreed to try curling for one year. That was 2012. By 2017, Jon was selected for the Team Canada NextGen Program and joined team Canada in 2019.
It seems Jon is a natural. He has competed in seven World Championship competitions, with his most recent win in the World Curling championship in2025, where his team took home bronze. Carl is still at his side as his coach. He is also a proficient water skier, archer and boxer.
Jon is honoured to represent his country at these events. Having never been to Italy, he was looking forward to authentic Italian cuisine, particularly pasta, but was pretty happy with the cake being served in his honour at the Curling Club last week.
Italy is where Canada earned its first Paralympic gold medal in curling 20 years ago when the sport was first added to the program. The Canadian team has been on the podium at every Games since then. While Canada is still seen as a strong competitor in the sport, other countries have been upping their game, and now China is the team to beat, sitting in top spot in the curling world.
All Paralympic Games featuring Canadian athletes will be broadcast on CBC Gem, with Jon’s first game scheduled for March 7th at 12:30 EST. Go Canada.