Canada was accused of cheating during the men’s curling competition at the Olympics. The double touch scandal is now the biggest controversy in sports.
New evidence adds even more fuel to the fire.
A Swedish news publication intentionally set up a camera on the hog line to monitor the Canadians during competition at the Olympics. It captured multiple images that clearly show the stones being touched after their release.
Team Canada was accused of cheating.
A heated confrontation between Canadian curler Marc Kennedy and Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson first brought attention to this issue on Friday. The latter accused the former of double-touching stones.
A double-touch violation in curling occurs when an athlete touches a moving stone after its initial release. The violation only occurs if the moving stone is touched past the delivery end of the hog line— also known as the tee line. Here are the most applicable international rules as they are written:
- Rule R5 (d): The curling stone must be delivered using the handle of the stone.
- Rule R5 (g): A stone is in play, and considered delivered, when it reaches the tee line at the delivery end. A stone that has not reached the relevant line may be returned to the player and redelivered.
- Rule R9 (a) Between the tee line at the delivery end and the hog line at the playing end:
- I. If a moving stone is touched, or is caused to be touched, by the team to which it belongs, or by their equipment, the touched stone is removed from play immediately by that team. A double touch by the person delivering the stone, prior to the hog line at the delivering end, is not considered a violation.
Curling Canada even includes the following rule about re-touching: “A stone re-touched by the hand after release, but re-touched before the hog line, is not a violation.” That is crucial to this conversation.
Eriksson’s accusation did not go over well with Kennedy, who told him to “F— off.”
The best angles of Marc Kennedy’s infractions and the argument afterward
by u/MissKorea1997 in Curling
Sweden was right about the double-touch but Canada was cleared of wrongdoing after an investigation. All of its double touches occurred prior to the delivery end of the hog line. No violation.
Increased surveillance monitors curling competition at the Olympics.
Although Team Canada was not found guilty of wrongdoing, the resulting controversy became one of the biggest stories at the Olympics. It led directly to a violation just two days later.
Curling officials increased its surveillance on the hog line after the incident on Friday. Bobbie Lammie of Great Britain had a rock pulled for a double-touch during the ninth end on Sunday.
This continues to be a thing but the increased surveillance for double-touch violations was effectively called off on Sunday. World Curling updated its umpire monitoring protocol, again, after a meeting with representatives of the competing National Olympic Committees.
“The two umpires who had previously been actively monitoring athlete deliveries remain available in the field of play, but will now only monitor athlete deliveries at the request of the competing teams. The umpires when requested will monitor deliveries for a minimum of three ends.”
This is how it will be moving forward. Teams must specifically request the additional supervision.
The Canadians continue to double-touch.
Marc Kennedy and the Canadians offered an extremely lame excuse for the ongoing cheating scandal at the Olympics and claimed it was a setup. Sweden supposedly put a “mysterious Zapruder-like figure” in the stands, right on the hog line, to film the potential double-touch violations and to cause a stir.
The Swedes vehemently denied any such behavior but the accusation served as inspiration for the Swedish news bulletin Sportbladet, which is a direct subsidiary of the national publication Aftonbladet.
Sportbladet put a photographer in the stands, right on the hog line, to monitor double-touch violations during Team Canada’s match against Czechia. It did exactly what the Canadians suggested.
Sportbladet did not capture any images that proved Marc Kennedy touched a stone, but it did capture six suspicious images of Team Canada skipper Brad Jacobs. They show him touch two different rocks in the fifth and eighth ends. The photos do not suggest a violation beyond the hog line, but they very clearly show his finger on the stone after it had been released. There is some truth to the accusations!
Kennedy spoke with Sportbladet after the match and called it a nonissue. Jacobs was not made available for interview.
Sportbladets bilder avslöjar: Kanada fortsätter fuskahttps://t.co/pyye5wkiiC pic.twitter.com/09ybBCpOxd
— Sportbladet (@sportbladet) February 17, 2026
Canada has not been called for a double-touch violation in curling at the Olympics. Only Great Britain. However, we now have even more definitive evidence that its athletes are touching the stones after they are released. And where there is smoke, there is often fire.