GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALTA.—Karen Sagle and Brit O’Neill live in a nice place with a cute dog in Ottawa and, over the last several months, their respective social media feeds paint the picture of a life filled with, in order: curling, beer, travel and each other.

“We like to have fun,” Sagle said. “We like to do fun things.”

“We’re a live-in-the-moment kind of couple,” O’Neill said, with a widening smile. “Not so much a plan-for-the-future couple, it seems.”

“We’re trying to be better at that,” Sagle said.

“It’s like, ‘Do we have enough money just to do that, and nothing else, and not eat? Then let’s do that,’ ” O’Neill said over Sagle’s laughter.

They got the chance to do something they never really thought was possible this week, competing as a team with Ontario at the Canadian women’s curling championship. Their rink was still in contention for a playoff spot until Friday morning, but fell just short, meaning they will not play this weekend.

It was their first trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, and they wondered if their presence marked another first: the first time an out couple competed together for the national title.

“We might be,” Sagle said.

“I would love to know if we’re making history here,” O’Neill said.

“We should know about it,” Sagle said, with a laugh.

Curling Canada officials could not confirm it, but said they believed it was the case.

“Homophobia in sports is still a pretty big thing in a lot of sports,” Sagle said. “We’ve been very lucky. The people we surround ourselves with, it’s never been an issue for us. But certainly, it’s still something that’s a little hidden away, and a little bit not talked about in sport, in general.”

Sagle, a 29-year-old event planner from Ottawa, and O’Neill, a 29-year-old dental hygiene student from Ancaster, Ont., played alongside skip Jenn Hanna and her sister Steph in Grande Prairie. Sagle was lead, and O’Neill was third. Both have been curling for years, and they played each other at the 2007 Ontario junior championship. (Sagle’s team won, as she pointed out with a smile.)

They only got to know each other four years ago, at another curling event in Brockville, Ont.

“We actually got locked in an elevator together,” Sagle said, smiling.

“That’s the truth,” O’Neill said.

They became friends, and within about six months, they were in a long-distance relationship. O’Neill moved to Ottawa to erase that distance. They are a common-law couple, but not one that immediately joined forces in curling.

Initially, they worried about personal space and boundaries, and the ability to separate what happens at home from what happens on the ice, and vice versa.

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They were both curling on weekends. Eventually, it just made sense to compete together.

“Ninety-eight percent of the time that we spend here,” O’Neill said, “we’re teammates.”

“Right,” Sagle said in agreement.

“And we take on that role very seriously,” O’Neill said. “So I don’t consider it as being, like, around her too much as my girlfriend. It’s a totally different headspace.”

They listed their relationship status — naming each other as partners — in the official Curling Canada media guide for the Scotties.

“Nobody talks about it,” Sagle said.

“Not at all,” O’Neill said.

“It’s interesting,” Sagle said.

“I don’t know the reasoning,” O’Neill said. “Me, neither,” Sagle said. “Maybe it’s just not talked about. But sometimes you wonder when it’s not purposely talked about, whether there’s a reason behind it.”

Their rink became the talk of Canadian curling last month when it shocked the heavily favoured Rachel Homan rink in the Ontario championship, earning the right to compete this week at the Scotties. O’Neill and Sagle will return home now, with plans to drop in when the men’s championship opens in Ottawa early next month. In June, if they can scrape together the necessary funds, they will be in Thailand.

“I mean, it’s pretty cool for us to be here together,” Sagle said. “I would love for people to know that, to know that we’re that strong of a couple — that we can be awesome in a relationship and also curl together and be awesome at that.”

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