Kevin Martin (curler)
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 Kevin Martin (left) with former team mate Carter Rycroft |
|
 Team K. Martin  |
|
| Alternate | Adam Enright |
| Lead | Ben Hebert |
| Second | Marc Kennedy |
| Third | John Morris |
| Skip | Kevin Martin |
| Club | Saville Sports Centre |
| Brier appearances |
9 (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008) |
| Top CCA ranking |
1st (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08) |
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Curling | |||
| Winter Olympics | |||
| Silver | 2002 Salt Lake City | ||
| World Curling Championships | |||
| Gold | 2008 Grand Forks | ||
| Silver | 1991 Winnipeg | ||
| World Junior Curling Championships | |||
| Silver | 1986 Dartmouth | ||
Kevin Martin (born July 31, 1966 in Killam, Alberta; nicknamed "The Old Bear" and "K-Mart") is a Canadian curler from Edmonton. He is the current World Champion and Brier champion skip.
Martin is one of the most successful curlers in the world, especially in the World Curling Tour, where his teams have won almost $2 million in his career. Martin first came on the curling scene in 1985 when he won the Canadian Junior Championships. This qualified him for the 1986 World Junior championships, where he won the silver medal. Five years later, he qualified for the 1991 Labatt Brier, which he ended up winning and going on to the World Championships where he won the silver medal. In 1992 Martin qualified for the 1992 Winter Olympics in which curling was a demonstration sport and finished fourth. He would then play in the 1992, 1995 and 1996 Labatt Briers before winning the Brier again in 1997. That gave him a berth at the World Championships where he would again fall short of gold, finishing fourth. He would not return to the Brier until 2000 where he finished with a disappointing 6-5 record. Martin once again went to the Olympics two years later for the 2002 Winter Olympics, the second Olympics where curling was a full-medal event. At the 2002 Olympics, Martin had an 9–1 record before losing to Pal Trulsen of Norway in the final, missing a presumably "easy" draw in the last round.
On April 26, 2006 Martin announced the break up of his long-time team Olympic silver medalist team of lead Don Bartlett, second Carter Rycroft and third Don Walchuk. Those three would be replaced by 2-time World Junior Champion skip John Morris now playing third, Marc Kennedy at second and Ben Hebert at lead.
Martin is known for his ability to pull off near-impossible shots in complex situations, to the degree where other curlers have been using the expression "to do a Martin", meaning to attempt such a shot.
Martin has won a career eight Grand Slam victories. He was the second skip (after Wayne Middaugh) to win a "career Grand Slam"—winning a title in each Grand Slam event. He did this after winning the National Grand Slam event on March 25, 2007.
On March 13, 2008, Martin's team from Alberta became the first time since 2003 to go through the round robin at the Tim Hortons Brier undefeated. They finished with a perfect 13-0 record. With that perfect finish, Martin won his third Brier title.[1]
Martin finally won his first World Championship at the 2008 World Men's Curling Championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota. After a 10-1 record, he lost to Scotland, skipped by David Murdoch, in the 1 vs. 2 game, only to beat them in the rematch in the final. This was the first time Kevin Martin won a gold medal at an international curling event [2].
Contents |
[edit] Grand Slam Titles
- Masters of Curling: Jan. 2003
- Canadian Open: 2002, 2005, 2007
- The National: 2006, 2007, 2008
- Players' Championship: 1998*, 2000*, 2005, 2007
*pre-Grand Slam era
[edit] Teams
| Season | Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Events |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984-85 | Kevin Martin | Richard Feeney | Dan Petryk | Michael Berger | 1985 CJC |
| 1985-86 | Kevin Martin | Richard Feeney | Dan Petryk | Michael Berger | 1986 WJC |
| 1990-91 | Kevin Martin | Kevin Park | Dan Petryk | Don Bartlett | 1991 Alta., Brier, WCC |
| 1991-92 | Kevin Martin | Kevin Park | Dan Petryk | Don Bartlett | 1992 OG, Alta., Brier |
| 1993-94 | Kevin Martin | Kevin Park | Ken Tralnberg | Don Bartlett | 1994 Alta. |
| 1994-95 | Kevin Martin | Kevin Park | James Pahl | Don Bartlett | 1995 Alta., Brier |
| 1995-96 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Shawn Broda | Don Bartlett | 1996 Alta., Brier |
| 1996-97 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Rudy Ramcharan | Don Bartlett | 1997 Alta., Brier, WCC |
| 1997-98 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Rudy Ramcharan | Don Bartlett | 1997 COCT |
| 1998-99 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Rudy Ramcharan | Don Bartlett | - |
| 1999-00 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Carter Rycroft | Don Bartlett | 2000 Alta., Brier |
| 2000-01 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Carter Rycroft | Don Bartlett | 2001 Alta. |
| 2001-02 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Carter Rycroft | Don Bartlett | 2001 COCT, 2002 OG |
| 2002-03 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Carter Rycroft | Don Bartlett | - |
| 2003-04 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Carter Rycroft | Don Bartlett | 2004 Alta. |
| 2004-05 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Carter Rycroft | Don Bartlett | 2005 CC |
| 2005-06 | Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Carter Rycroft | Don Bartlett | 2005 COCT, 2006 Alta., CC, Brier |
| 2006-07 | Kevin Martin | John Morris | Marc Kennedy | Ben Hebert | 2007 Alta., CC, Brier |
| 2007-08 | Kevin Martin | John Morris | Marc Kennedy | Ben Hebert | 2008 Alta., CC, Brier, WCC |
[edit] Awards
- WJCC All-Star skip: 1986
[edit] References
- ^ Curling Scoops The 2008 Tim Hortons Brier
- ^ Curling Scoops Gold at last!
