Amy Lee Nixon (born September 29, 1977) is a Canadian retired curler and lawyer from

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. She was a member of the bronze medal-winning 2006 Winter Olympic women's curling team, skipped by

Shannon Kleibrink Shannon Kleibrink (born October 7, 1968 in Norquay, Saskatchewan) is a retired Canadian curler from Okotoks, Alberta. She and her team of third Amy Nixon, second Glenys Bakker, lead Christine Keshen and alternate Sandra Jenkins represented Can ...

. Nixon was also the chair of the board of governors of

Curling Canada Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of Curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes C ...

from 2021 to 2022.

Curling career

Nixon began curling competitively at fourteen. Her first notable success was being a gold medal-winning skip at the Saskatchewan Winter Games in 1994, which she followed up with a 10th-place finish at the 1995

Canada Games The Canada Games (french: Jeux du Canada) is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two ...

. She would later move to Alberta, where she was the runner-up at the 1998 provincial junior championship, losing the Alberta final to

Bronwen Saunders Bronwen Webster (born Bronwen Saunders; August 2, 1978) is a Canadian curler from Alberta. Career Webster won her provincial junior championship earning her a right to represent Alberta at the 1998 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. Her team ...

. Nixon was a member of the

mixed curling team that represented Alberta at the

2003 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship The 2003 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship was held January 11–19 at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre in Abbotsford, British Columbia.https://www.curling.ca/files/2019/11/2020-Mixed-Guide-Formatted.pdf Nova Scotia's Paul Flemming rink beat ...

. It was the first time ever that a woman (Kleibrink) skipped a team at the Canadian Mixed. The team had Nixon (who threw second stones), hold the broom for Kleibrink's shots, allowing both male team members to sweep Kleibrink's stones, a unique advantage for the team. At the 2003 Mixed, the team made it to the final, where they lost to Nova Scotia's

Paul Flemming Paul Flemming (born October 8, 1968, in Halifax, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian curler. He currently skips his own team out of Halifax. Curling career Flemming's junior team was successful yet failed to ever win the Nova Scotia Junior Men's Ch ...

rink. Nixon joined Kleibrink's women's team in 2003. The team found success in their first season together, winning the Alberta Hearts, and representing Alberta at the

2004 Scott Tournament of Hearts The 2004 Scott Tournament of Hearts was held at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta from February 21 to 29 2004. The defending champion, Colleen Jones won the right to represent "Canada" and she would go on to win her fourth straight champions ...

, where they went 6–5. As a third for Kleibrink, Nixon shared in several successes in the women's game, including winning the Canada Cup in 2005 and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, and the

2005 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials The 2005 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials were held from December 3 to 11 at the Halifax Metro Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The winning teams represented Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Men Teams Round-robin standings ''Fi ...

. The team represented Canada at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, where they won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

. In addition to the 2004 Hearts, the team also represented Alberta at the

2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2008 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Canada's national women's curling tournament was held February 16–24, 2008 at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan. The winner was the 2005 champion team from Manitoba, under skip Jennifer Jones. In w ...

, where they were runners-up and at the

2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2011 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 19 to February 27 at the Charlottetown Civic Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was the 30th anniversary of Kruger Pr ...

, finishing with a 6–5 record. After the Kleibrink rink lost in the B final of the

2012 Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2012 Alberta Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Alberta's women's provincial curling championship, was held from January 25 to 29 at the Leduc Curling Club in Leduc, Alberta. The winning team of Heather Nedohin, represented Alberta at the 2012 Sc ...

, Nixon was added as the alternate on the winning

Heather Nedohin Heather Nedohin (born Heather Godberson; July 15, 1975) is a Canadian curler from Sherwood Park, Alberta. She is a Canadian former and World Junior champion, two-time Tournament of Hearts Champion and a two-time World bronze medalist. She is m ...

team after the event. The team represented Alberta at the

2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from Saturday, February 18 to Sunday, February 26 at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta. This Tournament of Hearts marked the second time tha ...

, which they won. They then went on to represent Canada at the 2012 World Women's Curling Championship, where they won the bronze medal. At the end of the 2011–2012 curling season, Nixon announced she would leave team Kleibrink, effective at the end of the 2012 Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown, to form her own team. After a few seasons skipping her own team, and one season playing for Nedohin, Nixon joined the

Chelsea Carey Chelsea Danielle Carey (born September 12, 1984 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian curler from Calgary, Alberta. She is the 2016 and 2019 Canadian and Alberta women's champion skip and 2014 Manitoba provincial women's champion skip. Career E ...

rink in 2015. The team won the 2016 Alberta Hearts and the 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts for Alberta. They then represented Canada at the 2016 World Women's Curling Championship, where they finished in 4th place. As defending champions, they represented Team Canada at the

2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held from February 16 to 26 at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario. The Rachel Homan rink, representing Ontario, won their third national title; with Homan becoming the youngest skip, man or w ...

. There, they ended up finishing third. After the event, Nixon announced her retirement from competitive curling.

Personal life

At the age of four she moved with her family to

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

, where she grew up. She moved to

in 1995, where she now resides. Nixon is an alumnus of the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

with three degrees in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

. She was admitted to the Alberta bar in November 2006. Nixon has been employed at

Mount Royal University Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History Mount Royal University was founded by Alberta provincial charter by the Arthur Sifton government on December 16, 1910 and officially opened on September 8 ...

since 2011, and has been a university solicitor there since 2017. She is married to Mike Westlund and has one child. Nixon's father, Daryl, was the coach of the 2006 Olympic women's curling team. Nixon was elected as Chair of Curling Canada's Board of Governors in June 2021, replacing

Mitch Minken Mitch is a short form of the masculine given name Mitchell. It is also sometimes a nickname, usually for a person with the surname Mitchell. It may refer to: People * Mitch Altman (born 1956), hacker and inventor * Mitch Apau (born 1990), Dutch ...

who stepped down for personal reasons. She was re-elected a few months later to begin a full two-year term.

Grand Slam record

Former events

Teams

Notes

References

* http://thechronicleherald.ca/sports/1196435-truro-s-iskiw-taking-year-off-curling * http://www.curling.ca/blog/2012/01/16/featured-curling-athlete-amy-nixon/

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon, Amy 1977 births Living people Curlers from Calgary Curlers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Canadian women curlers Lawyers in Alberta Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic curlers of Canada Olympic medalists in curling Curlers from Saskatoon Curlers from Regina, Saskatchewan Canadian women lawyers Canadian women's curling champions Continental Cup of Curling participants Canada Cup (curling) participants Curling Canada presidents