© Michael Madrid/Imagn
Canada’s men’s curling team found itself embroiled in a major cheating controversy during Friday’s pool play match against Sweden. Now, after definitive evidence has proven the Swedes correct, the Canadians are offering up a weak excuse.
The incident occurred when Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canada’s Marc Kennedy of double-touching the stone upon release on several occasions after reaching the hog line, something that is explicitly banned.
Kennedy, 44 and a four-time Winter Olympian, then told Eriksson to “f— off” when the Swede offered to provide evidence of the incidents.
After the match, which Canada won 8-6, Kennedy made his feelings on the matter clear.
“I don’t like being accused of cheating after 25 years on tour and four Olympic Games,” he said. “So, I told him where to stick it. Because we’re the wrong team to do that to.”
However, both video and photo evidence made it abundantly clear that Kennedy did, in fact, contact the stone again after it reached the line, at least on one occasion.
This move is not legal in high-level curling, such as the Olympics or competitions governed by the World Curling Federation.
The photo shows Marc Kennedy (Canadian player) stretching his finger to touch the stone (likely the granite body, not just the handle) while it is still… pic.twitter.com/ayC3SW4cZw
— Não binário político: não petista ou bolsonarista. (@marinhos) February 14, 2026
Now, Team Canada is changing its tune.
Canada’s Men’s Curling Team Claims It Was Set Up Using Illegal Tactics
“They have come up with a plan here at the Olympics, as far as I know, to catch teams in the act at the hog line,” Kennedy told reporters on Saturday. “This was planned, right from the word go, yesterday. From the words that were being said by their coaches and the way they were running to the officials, it was kind of evident that something was going on, and they were trying to catch us in an act.”
Kennedy then noted that a video appearing to show him double-touching the stone was seemingly shot from the stands, where all filming is prohibited.
“I was surprised that there was a live video on the hog line outside of OBS rules,” Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen said. “That seems odd to me.”
So Canada has shifted from claiming it did not double-touch the stone to claiming that it was only caught doing so due to improper methods.
However, a similar incident occurred on Saturday in Canada’s women’s match against Switzerland.
“I’ve never done it in my life,” Team Canada captain Rachel Hohman said afterward.
Hohman’s rock was pulled from play after the match official determined that she had touched the stone beyond the hog line.
Canada’s men’s team currently sits in third in pool play at 3-1, while the women’s team sits seventh at 1-2. Only the top four teams advance to the medal rounds of their respective tournaments