following a failed bid to win the 2001 alberta championship, the team then boycotted the brier, as prominent curling teams of the day wanted to focus more on the world curling tour, while the canadian curling association scheduled events conflicting with major wct events. in the meantime, however, martin still had his sights set on an olympic championship. the team went to the 2001 canadian olympic curling trials and finished first after the round robin with a 7–2 win-loss record. that gave the team a bye to the finals, which martin won by defeating kerry burtnyk with a score of 8–7.