Team Canada has once again become embroiled in a “double-touching” curling controversy at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Canada’s men’s team has been accused of cheating for the second time at the Games, the latest by Team Switzerland during Saturday’s round-robin match, the New York Post reported.
Team Sweden had made a similar accusation against Canada the previous day, leading to a contentious and expletive-laden argument between members of each squad.
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Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused the Canadian third Marc Kennedy of double-touching, a rules violation that involves making contact with the handle after releasing the stone beyond the initial boundary — or what is known as the hog line.
“I haven’t done it once, you can f*** off. I don’t give a s***,” Kennedy fired back, as overheard by NBC cameras.
Canada ended up winning the match, 8-6, and the team was not assessed a penalty for breaking the rules beyond a verbal warning for Kennedy for use of profane language.
Swiss curler Pablo Lachat-Couchepin also was overheard during Saturday’s 9-5 win over Canada telling a coach that he witnessed double-touching by the Canadians
“I don’t want to focus too much on it, but he double-touched, and the referee saw it,” Lachat-Couchepin was quoted as saying to his coach by the Toronto Star.
Kennedy, a four-time Olympian, was calmer following Saturday’s loss.
“My whole life I’ve been a little bit like that if my integrity gets questioned. We’re human out there. Lots of emotions,” Kennedy told CBC.
“No question I could’ve handled it better though.”
Canada’s women’s team also was assessed a penalty for double-touching in Saturday’s match against Switzerland at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
The umpire accused Canadian skip Rachel Homan, a three-time gold medalist in the World Championships, of the infraction and called for the stone to be removed.
On top of that, she was caught on a hot mic in a heated moment with officials.
Officials said Canada touched the stone after releasing the handle, which is against curling rules.
The stone was removed from play.
“Like absolutely not,” Homan said on mics picked up by the broadcast.
“Zero per cent chance … I’ve never done it in my life.”
Switzerland ended up winning the match, 8-7.
After the match, Homan still didn’t quite get what the officials saw.
“I don’t understand the call,” Homan said, per the CBC.
“I’ll never understand it. We’ve never done that.”
She added, per Reuters: “It has nothing to do with us. (The umpire) shouldn’t be in our game. There’s no infractions on the women’s side at all. It was absurd.
“If there is something, you call it out and the ump comes out, watches so it doesn’t happen again. It’s never been called out in the women’s game. It’s just insane.”
Homan continued: “My hand did not move when I released it.
“I have no idea what she saw. If she saw something, then look at the video. Go watch it a thousand times. You’re going to see nothing. It’s frustrating. It’s not even a thing.”
Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni admitted that she did not see the incident.
“I don’t know if she did do it. But it’s a decision that the umpire took and we had no choice than to remove that rock. It was an order from the umpire,” Tirinzoni explained.
“It’s a rule that always existed as far as I know. But it has been a big discussion yesterday. They took a closer look today. Apparently, they saw her touching the granite. I don’t know if that’s true or not.
“But then they decided to remove the rock. I cannot say anything. I did not see it.”
Britain was also accused of the same violation during a round-robin game against Germany, with officials saying that Scottish curler Bobby Lammie touched a stone after releasing it down the ice.
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