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Controversy erupted at the World Curling Championship in Canada this week. Cheating allegations surrounding Team China emerged online after video of the competition began circulating social media.
The team is accused of “burning rocks” while competing against Norway. The illegal act caused quite the stir amongst viewers.
The term “burning a rock” relates to the intentional act of hitting the curling stone with your broom. A clip from CBS News reporter Devin Heroux appeared to provide evidence of China doing just that.
I have heard of multiple reports of China burning rocks intentionally throughout the world curling championships.
This one this morning the most egregious. And deliberate.
I’ll be asking Switzerland ahead of the semifinal if they’ll be alerting the umpire to watch for this. pic.twitter.com/uCsGU7lurV
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) April 5, 2025
You can see the Chinese player’s broom make contact with his stone just before it comes into landing area. Viewers believe the player was deliberately and illegally manipulating the path of the stone.
The player in question is Li Zhichao. He’s been now labeled a cheater, though he was not punished by officials at the event.
The accusations were brought to the attention of World Curling. A statement was released by the organization, though it insisted not much could be done about the situation.
“We are aware of the situation. The Norway team called a technical time-out at the time to discuss the issue within the teams, and decided to let things stand and continue the game. There has been no other complaint from Norway regarding this.
“The umpires step in when they see a situation, but video replay is not allowed at curling as it is not fairly distributed across every game in the competition.”
Officials didn’t catch the bump. Nothing was done despite Norway’s disdain.
Here is the exchange between Norway and China after the Chinese sweeper hit the rock with his broom.
More replays of what appears to be the intentional tapping of the rock to change its direction.
Burning a rock — curling term — hitting the stone with your broom. pic.twitter.com/Pxea3Os0Pi
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) April 5, 2025
According to The Curling News, this is not the first time China’s been enthralled in a cheating controversy. A recent meeting with Germany was immediately brought to attention after this latest instance.
Watch 1st end of China-Germany game- China kicked the rock on last throw that limited steal to 2 instead of 3. Germany protested but China denied kicking the rock-clear on replay it was kicked. China won by 1. Why should they stop doing it if they are never penalized?
— cjh1969 (@Christo73611476) April 5, 2025
Former Australia skip Jay Merchant blasted Team China on social media. “I’ve competed against China for the better part of the past 15 years… It’s a team I have never trusted on the ice and for good reason. There is no place for this sort of thing in curling… they need to look at sanctions.”
China would go on to defeat Norway amid the controversy. They eventually fell to Canada in the bronze medal match. Viewers want punishment for the alleged cheating.