CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — It looked like a normal throw.
Canadian skip Rachel Homan curled a stone into the 8-foot circle late in the first end of their women’s curling round-robin game Saturday against Switzerland at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
After the stone settled, though, an umpire positioned on the hog line ruled that Homan had touched the rock after releasing the handle. That’s not allowed, and it’s the same violation that caused a stir in a Canadian men’s game the night before.
“Absolutely not,” an incredulous Homan said after the call.
Her teammates protested to the officials. “It looked like a really good throw to us from the side, so I’m confused at that,” said Emma Miskew, the team’s second.
“Zero percent chance,” Homan continued. “There’s no way, I’d love to see a video.”
Video replay, though, is not an option, a supervising official explained. The umpire’s observation would be the final ruling.
“I guess there’s nothing we can do, if that’s what you’re saying,” said Sarah Wilkes, the team’s lead.
The stone was removed from play, and Canada took just one point with a hammer in the first end.
Even if replay had been an option, the Canadians might not have liked what they saw. A replay of the Peacock broadcast appeared to show Homan’s finger graze the rock after releasing it.
On Friday, Canada’s men’s team got into a verbal scrap with Sweden over the same issue. The Swedish team questioned whether one of Canada’s players, Marc Kennedy, was touching the stone after it was released.
“You can f— off,” Kennedy said in response.
Curlers can only use the stone’s handle when releasing it, not the granite base.
At the Olympics, stone handles have sensors called “hog eyes” to determine whether a handle was tapped after the stone crossed the green hog line. There is no sensor inside the rock itself, so any late contact with the granite does not trigger a red flash.
In a statement in response to Friday’s incident in the men’s game, World Curling — the sport’s international governing body — said it would increase oversight of releases beginning Saturday.
“It is not possible for World Curling to have game umpires positioned to observe all hog lines for every stone delivery,” the statement said. “However, beginning with the Saturday (14 February) afternoon session, two officials will move between all four sheets and observe deliveries.”
Homan and Canada rebounded after the disrupted first end. A steal on the second end gave them a 2-0 lead and two in the third made it 4-0.
The Swiss got one back in the fourth end before Homan had another stone snafu in the fifth. As she prepared to throw her last rock, she realized the handle was loose and asked for a repair. Homan then shot long on an attempt to draw to the button, and the Swiss stole another point.
The game turned in the seventh end, when Switzerland scored four to take a 6-5 lead. The Swiss ultimately won, 8-7, in 11 ends.
Canada, the defending world champion, is just 1-3 in group play so far after three straight losses.