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

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. 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 ...

. 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 ...

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 () 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 separate programs are or ...

. 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. Nova Scotia's Paul Flemming rink beat Alberta's Shannon Kleibrink in the final. Kleibrink was the first woma ...

. 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. In April 2024 Flemming's senior rink won the 2024 World Senior Curling Championships. Curling career Flemming's junior team was successful in Atlantic Can ...

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 Colleen Jones rink returned as Team Canada, going on to win their fourth straight Hearts, then representing Canada at the ...

, 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 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, 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 Italy, officially the Italian ...

. The team represented Canada at the

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

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, 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 receives ...

. 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 mar ...

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 th ...

, 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 currently skips her own team out of Manitoba. She is the and Canadian and Alberta women's champion skip and 2014 Manitoba p ...

rink in 2015. The team won the 2016 Alberta Hearts and the

2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held from February 20 to 28 at Revolution Place in Grande Prairie, Alberta. The winning team represented Canada at the 2016 World Women's Curling Championship held from March 19 to 27 at the Credit Un ...

for Alberta. They then represented Canada at the

2016 World Women's Curling Championship The 2016 World Women's Curling Championship (branded as the 2016 Ford World Women's Curling Championship presented by Meridian for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 19 to 27 at the Credit Union iPlex in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Tea ...

, 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 ...

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

Canadian Curling Hall of Fame The Canadian Curling Hall of Fame was established with its first inductees in 1973. It is operated by Curling Canada, the governing body for curling in Canada, in Orleans, Ontario. The Hall of Fame selection committee meets annually to choose indu ...

in 2024.

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, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

, where she grew up. She moved to

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

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

with three degrees in

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

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

and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. 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. Originally “Mount Royal College,” Mount Royal University was granted university status in 2009 by the provincial government. The university has an average class s ...

since 2011, and has been the General Counsel and University Secretary there since 2021. 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 who stepped down for personal reasons. She was re-elected a few months later to begin a full one-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 for 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 21st-century Canadian sportswomen