There is a curling controversy at the Winter Olympics and Canada is at the centre of the allegations

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Controversy is swirling in curling at the Winter Olympics and it’s all centreing on whether the mighty Canadian team is cheating.

Both men’s and women’s teams have now been accused of the same infraction: double-touching the curling stone after it is released.

It comes as the historic curling powerhouse finds its ego bruised. Its mixed doubles team didn’t even play for a medal, and its women’s team cannot afford to lose more matches if they hope to advance.

Here’s a look at the whole controversy and why it has exploded:

What happened at the curling centre in Cortina

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.

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.

Late Saturday, an umpire accused acclaimed Canadian skip Rachel Homan of the same infraction in Canada’s match against Switzerland. The umpire stopped play and the stone was removed from play. Homan looked shocked and denied the allegation.

Again, video spread on social media appearing to show her double-touch. The Canadians lost to the Swiss, 8-7.

There are rules against double-touching

After the uproar, World Curling clarified that double-tapping is not allowed, issuing a statement: “During forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play.”

Britain too

The curling controversy at the Winter Olympics widened early Sunday as increased surveillance of the matches resulted in the removal of a stone thrown by the British men’s team for the same alleged violation that burned the Canadians two days in a row.

In the ninth end of Britain’s round robin match against Germany, officials said Scottish curler Bobby Lammie had touched a stone after releasing it down the ice.

That is called “double-touching,” and it is against the rules. Britain won the match 9-4.

Here is what the Canadians say

Asked about the footage, Kennedy said: “If somebody said to you, ‘Hey, do you double-touch all the time?’ I honestly, in that split second of a moment, I couldn’t even tell you if I do or not.”

He then suggested the whole thing might have been “premeditated planning to try to catch us.”

“They’ve come up with a plan to catch teams in the act,” Kennedy said.

Saturday night on social media, gold medal winning Canadian curler John Morris, who was in Calgary introducing young fans to the sport, defended Kennedy.

Homan, meanwhile, postulated that she was being unfairly targeted because of the controversy on the men’s side.

“I don’t understand the call. I’ll never understand it. We’ve never done that,” she said. “It has nothing to do with us.”

Why this is such a big story

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). So it sticks out when there are allegations of cheating.

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.

The athletes playing for Canada and Sweden used to be close off the ice – huge rivals, sure, but admiring of each other’s curling skills. Now there’s clear animosity between the teams, which is intriguing for the casual viewer but a sad blow to the curling community.

What is next

Canada’s curlers are where they don’t want to be in the middle of a Winter Olympics: on the back foot, not just questioning their technique – “We’ll make some adjustments, release-wise, if we have to,” Kennedy said – but also scrambling to be in the mix for medals at the end of the week.

Kennedy had the worst shot success of Canada’s four players in its only game Saturday, according to tournament statistics. Canada lost 9-5 to Switzerland, a team it was expected to beat.

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’re a curling fan or not.

Roving officials: World Curling

Beginning Saturday, World Curling said it would designate two officials to move between the four curling matches during each round but noted it was “not possible” to have umpires stationed at each hog line — where the stones must be released by hand — during every match.

It was not known whether officials were watching some teams more closely than others. World Curling says it does not use video replays for reviewing game play.

Until Sunday, the controversy had been limited to the Canadian curlers, who represent one of the world’s most fervent fanbases.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Julia Frankel And Steve Douglas, The Associated Press