The title of Olympic champion may be one of the toughest to defend.

Not only do you see the rise of other athletes during the four years in between the international events, but you have to maintain the same amount of dedication and effort that resulted in a gold-medal finish in the first place.

In the case of Brad Gushue, who won gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, just getting another shot to represent Canada in men’s curling means he first has to become one of eight qualifying male skips for next month’s Roar of the Rings Olympic trials in Edmonton.

Four of those teams will be determined at this week’s Road to the Roar at CN Centre, an Olympic pre-trials event featuring separate 12-team triple-knockout men’s draws for men and women. The other four men’s teams – led by skips Kevin Martin (Edmonton), Kevin Koe (Edmonton), Randy Ferbey (Edmonton) and Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.) – qualified directly for the Roar of the Rings, scheduled for Dec. 6 to 13 at Rexall Place.

If Gushue advances to Edmonton, he’ll have to be the last skip standing in an elite field to advance to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Gushue would be thrilled to get a chance to defend his gold medal at the 2010 Games, but understands the road ahead is gruelling and challenging.

“A lot of people say (the pre-trials) is going to real good for the teams that get through because they’re going to be on a roll, but you know what? You got three weeks, and a lot can change in three weeks between now and the trials,” Gushue said. “Your game could improve or it could get worse. If this was the weekend before the trials, I think it’s an advantage to get through, but the fact is that we have three weeks a lot can happen in.”

The 11 other men’s skips leading their respective teams in this week’s pre-trials are: Jeff Stoughton (Winnipeg), Wayne Middaugh (Toronto), Mike McEwen (Winnipeg), Kerry Burtnyk (Winnipeg), Joel Jordison (Moose Jaw, Sask.), Jean-Michel Ménard (St-Romuald, Que.), Ted Appleman (Edmonton), Bob Ursel (Kelowna), Pat Simmons (Davidson, Sask.), Greg McAulay (Richmond) and Jason Gunnlaugson (Winnipeg).

On the women’s side, participating teams vying for the four Olympic trials berths this week are led by: Kelly Scott (Kelowna), Sherry Middaugh (Coldwater, Ont.), Marie-France Larouche (St-Romuald, Que.), Michelle Englot (Regina), Heather Rankin (Calgary), Rachel Homan (Ottawa), Crystal Webster (Calgary), Cathy King (Edmonton), Krista McCarville (Thunder Bay, Ont.), Amber Holland (Kronau, Sask.), Eve Bélisle (Montreal) and Sherry Anderson (Saskatoon).

The rinks which qualified directly for the Roar of the Rings are Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg), Shannon Kleibrink (Calgary), Cheryl Bernard (Calgary) and Stephanie Lawton (Saskatoon).

Canada’s female representative at the 2006 Games, Kleibrink won bronze in Turin.

Gushue and his Canadian teammates defeated Finland 10-4 in the 2006 Olympic gold medal final.

“It was definitely, from a curling perspective, the highlight of my life, and next to the birth of my daughter, probably the overall highlight in my life,” said Gushue, who welcomed daughter Hayley into the world with his wife Krista two years ago. “It was quite an experience to have years of hard work pay off to achieve a goal that you had as a young kid. It was definitely a thrill, and something I’d love to do again.”

Three quarters of the 2006 Olympics foursome is back this season, as third Mark Nichols and lead Jamie Korab are joining Gushue in Prince George this week. The most change in the past four years has come at the second position. Brought in as a fifth man on the team to bring advice and experience four years ago, Russ Howard replaced Mike Adam for the Olympics.

Over the past few years, changes to the team include the replacement of Adam at second and the return of Korab, who got cut from the team in 2007 only to rejoin the squad a year later. The team’s current second, Ryan Fry, was added to the mix in 2008.

Gushue said Korab lost his motivation for a period of time following the 2006 Olympics. As for Howard, his age and location played factors into the decision to part ways. Howard was 50 at the last Olympics and, as a New Brunswick resident, would’ve had a lengthy commute to meet in St. John’s for practice.

“You can list out the factors, so it was an easy decision,” Gushue said. “I don’t think anybody really expected us to play for much longer after the Olympics. I think some people may have expected to play the year after, but we quickly shifted our focus to 2010 right after we won the gold.”

Although they only got their curling ice put in their rink in St. John’s a few weeks ago, the Gushue foursome has enjoyed a successful start to the 2009-10 season, with four victories in six events.

This week marks Gushue’s first visit to Prince George. His team got its first taste of the curling ice at CN Centre during a practice session on Monday.

“I think we’re always focusing on the draw game a little bit more. That’s kind of been the source of our inconsistency, I think, over the last couple of years,” Gushue said. “When we draw good, we win. When we don’t draw good, we generally lose so if we can catch onto the draw weight real fast here, I like our chances.”

The Gushue team opened its schedule at the Road to the Roar on Tuesday evening at 8:30 p.m. The four-day event runs through the rest of the week, culminating with the final men’s and women’s games at 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. respectively on Saturday. For updated Road to the Roar results, visit www.pgfreepress.com.