CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — The typically calm realm of curling has become quite contentious at the Winter Olympics, with allegations of cheating and audible profanities overshadowing a spirited match between two top men’s teams.
Canada’s Marc Kennedy was incensed after being accused by Swedish competitor Oskar Eriksson of “double-touching”—essentially, making contact with the rock again after initially letting it go down the sheet of ice—during Canada’s 8-6 victory in round-robin play on Friday.
Kennedy unleashed a barrage of expletives to refute any rule violations. The game was briefly halted as accusations flew and Kennedy engaged in an argument with members of the Swedish team from across the ice.
“I don’t like being accused of cheating after 25 years on tour and four Olympic Games,” the 44-year-old Kennedy stated.
“So,” he continued, “I told him where to stick it. Because we’re the wrong team to do that to.”
Eriksson claimed he was merely wanting everyone to “play by the same rules.”
“We want a game that is as sportsmanlike, honest and clean as possible,” he remarked, “so we call it out as soon as I see that the Canadian No. 2 is, in my eyes, there poking the stone.”
The regulations indicate that a stone must be delivered using the handle on top of the rock and must be released from the hand before it crosses the hog line, represented by a thick green line at each end.
Replays seemed to show Kennedy releasing the stone with the handle before making contact with it again using an outstretched finger as it neared the hog line.
During the early ends of the match, Sweden alerted the officials about their concerns. An official stayed at the hog line to monitor Canada’s curlers, but no measures were taken. especially, curling does not employ video replays.
World Curling did not impose any sanctions on either team.
