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Canada’s curlers are accused of cheating in the men’s and women’s events at the Winter Games. Here’s an explanation of the rule they allegedly broke.
MILAN, Metropolitan City of Milan — Controversy is swirling in curling at the Winter Olympics, and it’s all centering on whether the mighty Canadian team is cheating.
Both men’s and women’s teams have now been accused of the same infraction: double-touching the curling stone after it is released.
It comes as the historic curling powerhouse finds its ego bruised. Its mixed doubles team didn’t even play for a medal, and its women’s team cannot afford to lose more matches if they hope to advance.
Here’s a look at the whole controversy and why it has exploded.
What happened at the curling center in Cortina
On Friday, Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian curler Marc Kennedy of breaking the rules by touching the rock again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice. Kennedy blew up, launching an expletive-laden outburst.
That was before video appearing to show a clear double-touch by Kennedy circulated on social media, taken by Swedish public broadcaster SVT. Still, he maintained his innocence. The Canadians won the match, 8-6.
Late Saturday, an umpire accused acclaimed Canadian skip Rachel Homan of the same infraction in Canada’s match against Switzerland. The umpire stopped play and the stone was removed from play. Homan looked shocked and denied the allegation.
Again, video spread on social media appearing to show her double-touch. The Canadians lost to the Swiss, 8-7.
There are rules against double-touching
After the uproar, World Curling clarified that double-tapping is not allowed, issuing a statement: “During forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play.”
Controversy widens surveillance of the issue
The controversy widened Sunday as increased surveillance of the matches resulted in the removal of a stone thrown by the British men’s team.
In the ninth end of Britain’s round robin match against Germany, officials said Scottish curler Bobby Lammie had touched a stone after releasing it down the ice. That is called “double-touching,” and it is against the rules. Britain won the match 9-4.
Beginning Saturday, World Curling said it would designate two officials to move between the four curling matches during each round but noted it was “not possible” to have umpires stationed at each hog line — where the stones must be released by hand — during every match.
It was not known whether officials were watching some teams more closely than others. World Curling says it does not use video replays for reviewing game play.
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