Italy is a special place for Canadian mixed doubles curlers Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant. It’s where they traveled for their honeymoon.

Peterman and Gallant are one of three married couples in the 10-team mixed doubles curling field at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.

Peterman said in an Instagram video that she and Gallant met playing mixed doubles, so having each other as partners feels natural.

“It’s not something that we’ve had to learn. It’s kind of all of we’ve known,” Peterman said in the video.

This is the second Olympics for both Peterman and Gallant, but their first together in mixed doubles. The duo finished sixth at the most recent world championships.

It would be easy to believe that, with their lives on and off the ice so intertwined, it would be all curling all the time for the Canadians, but Peterman said she thinks they do a good job of having boundaries. The couple told Reuters they rarely talk sports at home.

"I think Brett is very good at parking a win or a loss and being very present,” Peterman told Reuters. “People are shocked when I say we don't really talk curling much around the house or at dinner.

"As much as we're a curling couple, when it's not time to have a pregame or a postgame meeting, or when we're not at a competition, we're just enjoying each other's company and every aspect of who we are outside of curling,” she added. "I think that is why we're able to commit so much of our lives to it because it's not all-consuming. We're really good at parking it and being in the moment and being with our son."

Unlike the Canadians, Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten said it can be hard to step away from their day job when they go home.

"It would be wrong to say anything else. We talk about curling 24/7, almost,” Skaslien told Reuters on Tuesday.

The Norwegians have been together as a couple for 15 years, and became teammates on the ice one year later. They’re playing in their third Olympics together, and come to Cortina with silver and bronze medals to their name. 

Skaslien added they’re both “really stubborn and competitive,” and there can be pros and cons to that lifestyle. On the plus side, "we do not have any filter out there, for better or worse," she added.

Thankfully, any feelings that they have on the ice — good or bad — don’t build up. "We just get it out there and get it over with," she added.

Fans tuning in to watch the curling couples spread the love on the ice may be in for a surprise.

"Most times when people think that we're arguing, we're just talking," Nedregotten said. “Some people that will watch the curling on television will care about the sport, some will care about the reality factor of it. "That's fun too. We get a lot of comments about that stuff.

"I hope we can make some enjoyable moments for those who are watching."

Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann are both competing at their first Olympics, and Schwaller-Hürlimann said on Instagram she couldn’t be happier to be able to compete alongside her husband on the biggest stage.

“Dreams really do come true,” Schwaller-Hürlimann's post read. “To chase them with my better half by my side makes it even more special. Can’t wait to hit the ice in February!”

The Schwallers will also have a special family member watching their every sweep. Their son, River Walter Schwaller, was born in July 2024.

“It’s really cool that our son — when he learns to talk — he can say that my parents were together at the Olympics, which is really cool,” Schwaller said in an Instagram video. 

“It means a lot to us that he will be there. Even if you lose and you see him, you can’t be mad. It’s the best medicine against depression, I would say.”

Schwaller also sung the praises of his partner on and off the ice.

“I’m so happy for her,” he added in the video. “She played a lot and put a lot of energy into curling. To get to go to the Olympics with me, that’s just great."

The Canadians will also have their son, Luke, with them in Italy, as well as a host of family members that will watch Luke while the athletes stay in the Olympic Village.

“I think we’re most excited for having our family there and getting to share this whole experience with not only our son but our parents and my siblings,” Peterman said. “They weren’t really able to able to be involved with our whole Olympic journey in Beijing, so really looking forward to that.”

All three couples began play in Cortina on Wednesday and will continue on Thursday morning at 4:05 a.m. ET.

(Reuters provided reporting for this story.)