Rachel Homan opens up about feeling she'd 'let everybody down' after Beijing exit

After a chance at reaching the Olympic podium was cut short by literal millimetres, Canadian curler Rachel Homan is continuing to open up about her emotional struggles since coming home, with hopes that it might give others the strength to reach out for support in times of need.

“To Canada, the smallest, biggest community I know. I just want to thank you all for your tremendous love and support,” wrote Homan in a Twitter thread. “After coming home, I was so overwhelmed with feelings that I had let everyone down and it was hard to navigate. …

“I know that others share these experiences and feelings, whether through sport or life itself,” added Homan in the thread. “If sharing how I felt could give even one person an extra ounce of strength to reach out, I felt I owed it to that person to say something.”

Homan says she was “beyond low, but I wanted to share and be honest” about her experience, emphasizing the love she received, the forgotten “power of connection” in these pandemic times and the “importance of putting yourself out there & starting a conversation” as things that are helping her get through the difficult time.

Homan, alongside mixed doubles partner John Morris, entered the Beijing Games hoping to defend Canada's gold medal in the event four years ago. The pair was in great position with a 5-2 record to kick the 2022 tournament off, before falling to a last-place Australia team and an undefeated Italian team by a thread – sending them home in heartbreaking fashion.

After getting home, Homan first broke a bout of silence on social media on Tuesday by congratulating good friend Ivanie Blondin on achieving gold in the long-track speed-skating team pursuit. But Homan also highlighted that she was currently in “the deepest of black holes wishing (her and Morris) could have found another centimetre for Canada.

“Know that I’m cheering hard for every athlete in Beijing right now but personally struggling beyond words,” she wrote on Twitter.

Despite the disappointment and subsequent emotional struggles, the Ottawa native ended Friday's Twitter thread with a positive outlook.

“I wanted to bring back a medal for you guys and my family, but I know it’s not the results in the end that really matter. It’s not the whole story. I’m proud of our journey, sacrifice, and dedication to the success we had,” she wrote.

“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity to play on the Olympic stage against the best of the best. Canada, thank you for your support when I needed it most.”

This was Homan's second Olympic appearance. She represented Canada in the women's event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, when she was also kept off the podium.

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