Jennifer Judith Jones OM (born July 7, 1974) is a Canadian curler. She was the Olympic champion in curling as skip of the Canadian team at the 2014 Sochi Games. Jones is the first female skip to go through the Games undefeated. The only male skip to achieve this was fellow Canadian Kevin Martin in 2010. Jones and her team were the first Manitoba-based curling team to win an Olympic gold medal. They won the 2008 World Women's Curling Championship and were the last Canadian women's team to do so until Rachel Homan in 2017. She won a second world championship in 2018. Jones also represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics, where her team placed fifth.
Jones has won the Canadian women's curling championship a record-tying six times (in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2018), equalling Colleen Jones for total Canadian women's championships. Along with her national championships, Jones has also won the Manitoba women's provincial championship nine times. In a total of eighteen Tournament of Hearts appearances, she has won 177 games, more than any other curler. In addition to her accomplishments internationally, nationally, and provincially, she has also won seventeen Grand Slam of Curling events on the World Curling Tour, ten of which are recognized as current Grand Slam victories. In 2019, Jones was named the greatest Canadian curler in history by The Sports Network (TSN).
Early and personal life Jennifer Judith Jones was born in Winnipeg to Larry and Carol Jones, who were both curlers. She also has a sister, Heather, who is 18 months older. During her childhood, Jones was often described as shy. Her interest in curling began in a daycare at the St. Vital Curling Club, and Larry Jones started teaching her curling when she was 11. She attended General Vanier School in South Winnipeg from kindergarten to grade 8, after which she attended Windsor Park Collegiate. At that point, Jones was proficient at volleyball and curling. "When I was in high school, I really had to make a choice, and it was actually my volleyball coach who told me I had to choose either volleyball or curling, and I chose curling," she told the CBC. She attended the University of Manitoba from 1999 to 2001.
At the University of Manitoba, she earned a B.A. in psychology and economics and a LL.B. In 2008, she was an in-house counsel for Wellington West Capital. She later worked for National Bank Financial as a lawyer (as of 2013) and a senior legal advisor (as of 2018).2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup Media Guide: Jennifer Jones As of 2019, in addition to being a lawyer, Jones is also a motivational speaker.2019 Home Hardware Cup Media Guide curling.ca Jones is married to former world champion curler Brent Laing from Ontario; their daughters were born on November 13, 2012, in Barrie, Ontario and on August 18, 2016. In late 2016, Jones moved to Horseshoe Valley, near Barrie, Ontario, with Laing and their daughters. A residency policy change adopted by Curling Canada in 2015 allowed one team member to live out-of-province and continue to represent the province, so Jones continued to represent Manitoba.
Curling career
Juniors Jones began curling at the age of 11. She won three provincial junior championships and a national junior championship as a junior curler. Her first provincial junior competition was in 1990, when she was 15. Jones' father coached the team, which included her sister Heather at second, Tracey Lavery at third, and Dana Malanchuk at lead. The team went 1–2 before being eliminated. After the tournament, Jones was recruited to play third for Jill Staub. In 1991, Jones won her first provincial junior title, playing third for Staub. The team, which also included Kristie Moroz at second and Kelly Scott (then Mackenzie) at lead, defeated Denise Blashko in the Manitoba final. The team represented Manitoba at the 1991 Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Leduc, Alberta. They finished the round-robin in first place with a 10–1 record. This gave them a bye to the final, which they lost to New Brunswick, skipped by Heather Smith.
After the loss, Jones set out to skip her own team. She approached Jill Officer, in whom she saw great potential at the Highlander Curling Club in Winnipeg. "We got together when we were quite young and had an instant connection on the ice and became really good friends." says Jones. Jones, Trisha Baldwin, Officer, and Malanchuk made it to the provincial junior final in 1992, which they lost, 10–6, to her former teammate and fellow club mate, Tracey Lavery. Jones won her second provincial junior title in 1993, this time as a skip. Her team, which consisted of Baldwin at third, Officer at second, and Malanchuk at lead, defeated the Erin Moffatt rink in the Manitoba final. At the 1993 Canadian Juniors, the team finished the round robin with an 8–3 record, tied for third with Nova Scotia and Quebec. The team lost against Quebec (skipped by Janique Berthelot) in their tie-breaker match, eliminating them from the tournament.
The following year, Jones's team won their second straight provincial junior title, beating Jones's former teammate Kelly Mackenzie in the Manitoba final, and went unbeaten in the provincial championship. At the 1994 Canadian Juniors, they once again finished the round robin in a three-way tie for third, this time with Ontario and Northern Ontario, and with a 7–4 record. In their first tie-breaker, they defeated Northern Ontario's Rhonda Halvorsen, 10–4. They then defeated Ontario's Dominique Lascelles 10–8 in the second tie-breaker. This put the team into the semifinal against British Columbia's Jeanna Richard (Schraeder), whom they beat 5–3. The win put them in the final against the first place Saskatchewan rink, skipped by Sherry Linton. The team beat Saskatchewan 8–5, claiming the 1994 Canadian Junior title. During the final, Jones suffered a black eye and bumped her head after tripping over her feet. Jones told the CBC, "[My eye] is really sore, and I've got the biggest headache of my life." Ordinarily, winning the Canadian Juniors would mean a berth in the following year's World Junior Curling Championships, but a change in the ruling by the Canadian Curling Association (CCA) forced the team to play in a playoff the following year at the 1995 Canadian Juniors for the right to attend. Since Jones' team lost the 1995 Manitoba junior final to Kelly Mackenzie's team, the CCA gave them another chance to qualify by placing them directly in the semifinals of the Canadian Juniors. There, Jones played against MacKenzie and lost again.
Early women's career After juniors, Jones and Officer joined the Karen Porritt rink and attempted to qualify for the 1997 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials. Jones played third on the team, while Officer played second and later moved to lead. Jones replaced Northern Ontario import Kim Clark on the team. The team made it to the 1999 Manitoba Tournament of Hearts, the provincial women's championship, but were eliminated in a B-side qualifier to the Karen Young rink. The following season, Jones took over skipping the rink. That season, Jones failed to make it to the Manitoba Hearts, having lost in the final of the last qualifying berth to Lois Fowler.
In 2001, Jones and her rink of Porritt, Porritt's twin sister Lynn Fallis-Kurz, and Jones' junior lead, Dana Allerton qualified for the 2001 Manitoba Scott Tournament of Hearts, where they lost the final to Karen Young. The following year, the team won the Manitoba Hearts, defeating Linda Van Daele in the provincial final. The win earned the rink the right to represent the province at the 2002 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian national women's championship. At the 2002 Hearts, Jones led her Manitoba rink to an 8–3 round robin finish, which placed them in third place. This placement put them in the playoffs, where she lost to Ontario's Sherry Middaugh. The following season, Jones replaced Porritt with Kimberly Keizer at third. The team made it to the final of the 2003 Manitoba Scott Tournament of Hearts but lost to Barb Spencer in the final.
Porritt was brought back onto the team the following season, replacing Keizer, while Jones' junior teammate Jill Officer was also added at second with Fallis-Kurz moving to lead. The team had less success at the 2004 Manitoba Scott Tournament of Hearts, losing in the quarterfinal to Joelle Duguid.
2005 and "The Shot"
Prior to the 2004–05 season, it was announced that Jones would be forming a new team with former Hearts champions Cathy Overton-Clapham at third and Cathy Gauthier at lead, with Officer remaining at second. It was the first time Jones had met Overton-Clapham. The team went on to win the 2005 Manitoba Hearts, defeating clubmate Kristy Jenion in the final. At the provincials, the team had to win five straight games in 28 hours in order to win the title.
Representing Manitoba at the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the team went on to win the national championship by defeating Team Ontario, skipped by Jenn Hanna, in the final. Ontario controlled most of the game until the final end, with Jones herself struggling, curling just 70 percent. She faced an extremely difficult shot to win, having to hit a rock outside of the house and roll to the button, taking out an Ontario rock. She would have lost both the game and the tournament if she had missed. The shot was perfect, scoring 4 points with her final stone and winning the game. CBC analyst Mike Harris described it as "the best shot I've ever seen to win a game". Revered by Canadian sports media and curling fans, Jones' accomplishment under pressure was quickly dubbed "The Shot". TSN has rated the shot as one of the best ever at the Tournament of Hearts, stating "[t]o this day, most will make the case this shot is the greatest in the history of the Scotties."
The team's win qualified them for the 2005 World Women's Curling Championship in Paisley, Scotland. There, they struggled with poor ice conditions and were knocked out of the playoffs in the 3 vs. 4 game against Dordi Nordby and her Norway rink.
Team changes In the off-season, Jones replaced Gauthier at the lead position with 2002 Olympic bronze medallist Georgina Wheatcroft, who had also won the 2000 World Championship. This was done partly to boost the team's chances at the 2005 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in December, the first time Jones had qualified for an Olympic Trial. However, the team finished 5–4 and failed to reach the playoffs. In the trials, Jones also experienced a case of kidney stones and was rushed to the hospital. She described it as "the worst pain I've ever had". Earlier in the season, the team had won two tour bonspiels, the Casinos of Winnipeg Curling Classic and the Labatt Cash Spiel.
Because Jones had won the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts, she returned to the 2006 Scott Tournament of Hearts in London, Ontario as Team Canada. At the Hearts that year, she defeated Colleen Jones's team from Nova Scotia in the semifinal before losing to her former teammate Kelly Scott of Kelowna, British Columbia in the final. At the end of the season, the team beat Cheryl Bernard to win the 2006 Players' Championship, the first time the event had a women's draw, following the merger of the World Curling Tour and the Women's Tour.