{"id":470308,"date":"2026-02-15T15:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T15:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/470308\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T15:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T15:26:13","slug":"what-to-know-about-the-curling-controversy-at-the-winter-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/470308\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about the curling controversy at the Winter Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

CORTINA D\u2019AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) \u2014 Controversy is swirling in curling<\/a> at the Winter Olympics<\/a> and it\u2019s all centering on whether the mighty Canadian team is cheating.<\/p>\n

Both men\u2019s and women\u2019s<\/a> teams have now been accused of the same infraction: double-touching the curling stone after it is released.<\/p>\n

It comes as the historic curling powerhouse<\/a> finds its ego bruised. Its mixed doubles team<\/a> didn\u2019t even play for a medal, and its women\u2019s team cannot afford to lose more matches<\/a> if they hope to advance.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the whole controversy and why it has exploded:<\/p>\n

What happened at the curling center in Cortina<\/p>\n

On Friday, Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian curler Marc Kennedy of breaking the rules by touching the rock again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice. Kennedy blew up, launching an expletive-laden outburst.<\/p>\n

That was before video appearing to show a clear double-touch by Kennedy circulated on social media, taken by Swedish public broadcaster SVT. Still, he maintained his innocence. The Canadians won the match, 8-6.<\/p>\n

\"Canada's<\/p>\n

\n Canada’s Ben Hebert, and Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson in action during the men’s curling round robin session, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo\/Misper Apawu)\n <\/p>\n

Canada’s Ben Hebert, and Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson in action during the men’s curling round robin session, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo\/Misper Apawu)<\/p>\n

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\"Canada's<\/p>\n

\n Canada’s Rachel Homan and Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni compete during the women’s curling round robin session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb.14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fatima Shbair)\n <\/p>\n

Canada’s Rachel Homan and Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni compete during the women’s curling round robin session at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb.14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fatima Shbair)<\/p>\n

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Late Saturday, an umpire accused acclaimed Canadian skip Rachel Homan of the same infraction in Canada\u2019s match against Switzerland. The umpire stopped play and the stone was removed from play. Homan looked shocked and denied the allegation.<\/p>\n

Again, video spread on social media appearing to show her double-touch. The Canadians lost to the Swiss, 8-7.<\/p>\n

There are rules against double-touching<\/p>\n

After the uproar, World Curling clarified<\/a> that double-tapping is not allowed, issuing a statement: \u201cDuring forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is what the Canadians say<\/p>\n

Asked about the footage, Kennedy said: \u201cIf somebody said to you, \u2018Hey, do you double-touch all the time?\u2019 I honestly, in that split second of a moment, I couldn\u2019t even tell you if I do or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then suggested the whole thing might have been \u201cpremeditated planning to try to catch us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve come up with a plan to catch teams in the act,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n

Homan, meanwhile, postulated that she was being unfairly targeted because of the controversy on the men\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand the call. I\u2019ll never understand it. We\u2019ve never done that,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has nothing to do with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why this is such a big story<\/p>\n

As fierce as the competition can be, curling has a quiet camaraderie to it even though there have been scandals (see: Broomgate, a sweeping-related headache that World Curling believes it solved last June)<\/a>. So it sticks out when there are allegations of cheating.<\/p>\n

Canada is also the top nation in curling, easily its biggest market and where the biggest non-Olympic competitions tend to take place. They are taking it personally that their integrity is coming under attack in front of a global audience at the Olympics, which touts the values of respect and friendship.<\/p>\n

The athletes playing for Canada and Sweden used to be close off the ice \u2013 huge rivals, sure, but admiring of each other\u2019s curling skills. Now there\u2019s clear animosity between the teams, which is intriguing for the casual viewer but a sad blow to the curling community.<\/p>\n

What is next<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s curlers are where they don\u2019t want to be in the middle of a Winter Olympics: on the back foot, not just questioning their technique \u2013 \u201cWe\u2019ll make some adjustments, release-wise, if we have to,\u201d Kennedy said \u2013 but also srambling to be in the mix for medals at the end of the week.<\/p>\n

Kennedy had the worst shot success<\/a> of Canada\u2019s four players in its only game Saturday, according to tournament statistics. Canada lost 9-5 to Switzerland, a team it was expected to beat.<\/p>\n

All eyes are on both teams now. The Canadian men would not face Sweden again before the semifinals, should both teams make it, and that would be must-see TV whether you\u2019re a curling fan or not.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Olympics: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORTINA D\u2019AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) \u2014 Controversy is swirling in curling at the Winter Olympics and it\u2019s all centering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[190960,113110,103,181902,217110,218412,45567,218413,217326,200479,99,45569],"class_list":{"0":"post-470308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-2026-milan-cortina-olympic-games","9":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-canada-olympic-team","12":"tag-curling","13":"tag-marc-kennedy","14":"tag-olympic-games","15":"tag-oskar-eriksson","16":"tag-rachel-homan","17":"tag-send-to-apple-news","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-winter-olympic-games"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}