Retired curler Cheryl Bernard is one of the 2016 inductees into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. Bernard was born in Grande Prairie and at the peak of her career won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Despite that, she says trials in Edmonton were the real highlight for her.
“We were all just clicking on all cylinders. I did it with some pretty incredible people: our coach and the other three girls that I curled with and we had family in the crowd. You know, you talk about the zone and it’s always talked about, but we were so in the zone that week and it was so easy to win. I’ll remember that forever.”
Bernard’s rink almost went undefeated at the Roar of the Rings, losing only their last game of the round robin. After retiring, Bernard became a Goodwill ambassador in 2014 and spends her time doing motivation speaking for schools and businesses, something she feels is worth being recognized for.
“I really wanted to give back. We didn’t win a gold medal, but it’s about the choice of how you deal with that loss and I chose to see that we won a silver medal. For kids, I think, across Canada, it is your choice of how you look at life and what you take out of it.”
She’s still in the sport as a TSN broadcaster for the 2015/2016 Season of Champions. and is in Grande Prairie for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. She and the other new members of the Hall of Fame will be recognized in Red Deer in June.