A Cheating Accusation In Olympic Curling Spiraled Into A Tournament-Wide Controversy. Canada’s Women’s Team Got Caught In the Middle.
A confrontation between two players in a men’s curling match at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy set off a chain of events that rippled across the tournament, ultimately pulling Canada’s women’s team into a controversy they say they had no part in creating.
What began as an accusation of cheating on Friday, Feb. 13, escalated into increased officiating, disqualified stones and sharp words from Canadian athletes who said they were unfairly targeted.
A Men’s Match Turns Ugly
The controversy started during a men’s curling match between Canada and Sweden on Friday, Feb. 13. Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian curler Marc Kennedy of cheating — specifically, of committing a violation known as “double-touching” during a stone delivery. Kennedy’s response: “You can f*** off.”
The foul centers on a specific rule. Under World Curling rules, when delivering a stone, a player may retouch the handle as many times as they wish — as long as they do so before the hog line, the thick stripe that marks the end of the release zone. Touching the handle after the hog line is not allowed.
Asked about the footage, Kennedy denied cheating but acknowledged he “probably could have handled it better” after the confrontation, according to ESPN.
The exchange might have remained an isolated moment. Instead, it triggered an official response that changed how games were monitored across the entire tournament.
The Fallout Reaches the Women’s Game
By Saturday, the sport’s governing body had stepped in. World Curling issued a clear statement: “During forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play.”
The organization deployed additional officials to monitor the hog line. The consequences arrived swiftly.
In a women’s match between Canada and Switzerland on Saturday, Feb. 14, skip Rachel Homan’s first rock was pulled by officials for a “double touch” violation — the same violation Kennedy had been accused of during the men’s game the day before. Canada lost the match to Switzerland.
The disqualified stone became a flashpoint for the Canadian team, which felt the heightened scrutiny was a direct result of the men’s controversy.
“Despicable,” Canadian men’s skip Brad Jacobs said of the additional scrutiny, per the Los Angeles Times. “As Canadian curlers, we were targeted. And to go out and pull her rock like that, I think it was a tragedy.”
Homan was not the only athlete affected. Bobby Lammie, on Great Britain’s men’s team, had a rock disqualified in a match against Germany on Sunday morning. But the Canadian team felt they bore the brunt of what they viewed as an outsized reaction.
‘We Had Nothing To Do With That’
Members of the Canadian women’s team made clear they felt unfairly swept up in a situation that started in the men’s draw — a dispute between two players that had nothing to do with them.
“It obviously was like a heated moment between two players that blew it up,” the Canadian women’s team’s second Emma Miskew said, per Reuters.
“We had nothing to do with that. So we felt like we were brought into a situation that we had no part in.”
A controversy born from one confrontation in a men’s match had now directly affected the outcome of their own game, with Homan’s disqualified stone coming during a match Canada lost.
Homan Pushes Back on Cheating Claims
On Monday, Feb. 16, Homan addressed the accusations head-on.
“I think the word cheating came out of nowhere. It has nothing to do with cheating. There’s no chance that Canadians would ever intentionally cheat,” Homan said per Reuters.
“We don’t do that. We’re playing out there. We’re fierce. You know, things happen. People burn rocks. People go over the hog line - that’s just part of the sport.”
“There’s judges and reviews to make sure everything stays within how it’s supposed to be played,” she said, adding: “We don’t take lightly to feeling like someone thinks we’re cheating out there.”
Homan framed the infractions not as deliberate acts of dishonesty but as the kind of incidental contact that happens naturally in competition — something she said the existing officiating structure is designed to handle.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 2:49 PM.
