CORTINA D'AMPEZZO (AP) — The curling controversy at the Winter Olympics widened 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 game against Germany, officials said Scottish curler Bobby Lammie had touched a stone after releasing it down the ice. Such “double-touching” is against the rules. Britain won the match 9-4. Until Sunday, the allegations had been limited to Canadian curlers, who represent one of the world’s most fervent fan bases.
The controversy began Friday night with an allegation against the Canadian men by their Swedish opponents; a day later, a stone was removed from the Canadian women's match against Switzerland. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show both Canadian curlers double-touching the rocks but both teams denied wrongdoing.
On Saturday, World Curling directed two umpires to move between the four matches during each round, monitoring play. That policy was in place when violations were called on Lammie and Canada's Rachel Homan.
But the federation backpedaled on Sunday night, announcing that it would keep the two umpires who had been monitoring the games available at teams' request — but that they would not be sent to monitor games by default.
Some curlers said the double-touching infraction had never been called out with this level of intensity in past competitions and it can be difficult to tell if someone is guilty of it. World Curling does not use video replays for reviewing penalties during games.
Olympic curlers had varying opinions on whether umpires — like those in other sports — should begin using video replays to adjudicate disputes or verify calls.
“If they bring that in, I think it probably disrupts the speed of play," said Johanna Heldin, the alternate for the Swedish women's team. “We’ve always been a game that tries to play by the rules and have that high sportsmanship level, so hopefully we can figure that back out.”
U.S. women's curlers had a different view. Tara Peterson said she'd “absolutely” support video replay.
“There’s instances where an instant replay would be huge,” she said.
“I feel like there’s a lot of other sports that do it,” said her sister, skip Tabitha Peterson.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Britain's Bobby Lammie in action during the men's curling round robin session against Germany, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Britain's Bobby Lammie in action during the men's curling round robin session against Germany, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
MILAN (AP) — Who says there’s no fighting in hockey at the Olympics? Tom Wilson clearly does not care that it's shunned in international play.
Wilson dropped the gloves late in Canada’s 10-2 rout of France on Sunday, going after the player who delivered a forearm to the head of teammate Nathan MacKinnon minutes earlier.
“Obviously fighting isn’t a big thing in this tournament, but when a guy takes a run at one of our big guys, that’s what Willy does," three-time Olympian Drew Doughty said. "I mean, he does a lot more than that, but it was great to see him step up.”
Wilson fought Pierre Crinon, who was given a two-minute minor penalty and apologized to MacKinnon after the hit in the third period. Scoring 25 seconds into the ensuing power play was not good enough punishment in the eyes of Canada's players.
“We didn’t like the hit: felt like it was late and high," tournament leading scorer Connor McDavid said. "Willy just finishes a check and the guy jumps him, and Willy's just protecting himself. That’s all he can do. That’s the type of guy he is, type of teammate he is. Nothing but respect for him.”
Unlike the NHL, where it is a 5-minute major penalty, fighting is a game misconduct under International Ice Hockey Federation rules, so Wilson and Crinon were ejected. The outcome was already long determined, and Wilson only missed the final seven minutes of the game.
"We’re used to a lot more than that happening, so it was pretty harmless in the grand scheme of things," coach Jon Cooper said. “Sticking up for his teammates, that’s an easy one for him.”
Wilson also had a goal and an assist, along with the fight giving him what is known in hockey as a “Gordie Howe hat trick.”
The 31-year-old winger is one of just a few new players for Canada who did not play at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago, when there were three fights in the first nine seconds of the team's first game against the U.S.
Wilson's fight came exactly a year after those, when Canada's Brandon Hagel, Sam Bennett and Colton Parayko fought Americans Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk and J.T. Miller.
“Listen, I don’t think we can go through this tournament without seeing one,” Hagel said, smiling. “It was probably the talk about him coming to the tournament. But that’s just what Willy does: He sticks up for teammates.”
MacKinnon, who was slow to get up and spent some time on the bench before returning, appreciated Wilson standing up for him.
“That guy obviously didn’t want to fight Tom,” MacKinnon said. "He just wanted to wrestle. I wouldn’t want to fight Tom either.”
Wilson was a no-doubt pick for his physicality and ability to retrieve pucks, along with producing at a high level back in North America with the Washington Capitals. He is their leading scorer with 49 points in 50 games this season.
He's likely to be the Capitals' captain when Alex Ovechkin retires, and Cooper called Wilson “outstanding in the locker room.” Fighting at the Olympics only gives Wilson, who did not speak to reporters afterward, more street cred with his teammates.
“We know Willy’s got our backs," Bennett said. "He’s going to protect all our guys and bring the energy. We love that from Willy. He’s going to do anything for our team.”
Feisty goaltender Jordan Binnington, who has been known to jab a player or two with his blocker when he's displeased, loved it, too.
“I definitely wasn’t surprised," Binnington said. “That’s hockey, right? That's hockey.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
France's Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada's Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
France's Pierre Crinon (7) fights with Canada's Tom Wilson (43) during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
France's Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada's Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
France's Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada's Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
France's Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada's Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Canada's Tom Wilson (43) and France's Pierre Crinon, center, fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
France's Pierre Crinon (7) and Canada's Tom Wilson (43) fight in the third period during a preliminary round game of men's ice hockey between Canada and France at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
