Inside the widening Olympic curling controversy and allegations of cheating

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Inside the widening Olympic curling controversy and allegations of cheating

2026-02-16 01:30 Last Updated At：01:40

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Controversy is swirling in curling at the Winter Olympics.

The Canadian men's and women's teams, as well as the British men's team, have been accused of the same infraction: double-touching the curling stone after it is released.

It comes as Canada, a 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 it hopes to advance.

Here's a look at the whole controversy and why it matters:

On Friday, Oskar Eriksson of Sweden accused Canada's Marc Kennedy of breaking the rules by touching the rock again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice. Kennedy responded with 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 a game 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.

Then, on Monday, in the ninth end of Britain’s round-robin game against Germany, officials said Bobby Lammie of Scotland had touched a stone after releasing it.

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.”

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.

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.”

As fierce as the competition can be, curling has a quiet camaraderie 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. The Canadians 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 skills. Now there’s clear animosity between the teams, which is intriguing for the casual viewer but a blow to the curling community.

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. 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.

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

What to watch on Day 10 of the Milan Cortina Olympics: Brazil's ski star and Eileen Gu aim for gold

MILAN (AP) — Brazilian skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won South America's first Winter Olympics gold medal. Now he's going for a second. Also on Day 10 of the Milan Cortina Games, Eileen Gu is aiming for gold in the ski big air competition.

Here is a guide of what to look out for on Monday:

Viewers around the world can watch on official broadcasters, including NBC and streaming on Peacock and NBC Olympics platforms.

It’s going to be a showdown between two friends and two racers who were members of the same ski club as kids.

There is of course Pinheiro Braathen, who once raced for Norway, but now skies for Brazil. He’s going for a second gold. There’s also his friend Atle Lie McGrath of Norway.

They were teammates as kids in Norway. They are 1-2 in the standings on the World Cup circuit in the slalom. McGrath is racing with a heavy heart. He lost his grandfather on the day of the opening ceremonies.

It's the second of three medal shots for Gu, but the San Francisco-born Chinese skier's ambition comes at a cost.

Gu started her Olympics with silver in slopestyle, losing out to Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud for the second Olympics running.

Heading into the big air final, Gu said she's being “punished” by officials who refused to allow her extra training time for her third and final event, the halfpipe. The big air final clashes with halfpipe training, so Gu's rivals will get more time to practice.

The United States has surged through the women's hockey tournament, winning all of its five games and allowing just one goal. Now to guarantee a medal.

The U.S. takes on the other 5-0 team in the tournament, Sweden. “Captain Clutch” Marie-Philip Poulin returned from a knee injury in Canada's quarterfinal game. Her team now plays Switzerland for a place in the gold medal game.

Arianna Fontana has 13 career Olympic medals and is already the most decorated short-track speedskater of all time. The women's 1,000 meters offers her the chance of a 14th. There's also medals on offer in pairs figure skating.

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