Olympics Curling Controversy: Inside the Cheating Accusations Surrounding Team Canada

Marc Kennedy of Team Canada compete during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 13, 2026 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.Credit : Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty

Controversy took center stage at a men’s curling match between Canada and Sweden at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Games.

The Swedish team repeatedly accused Canadian curler Marc Kennedy of cheating during their face-off on Feb. 13, per NPR. The exchange between the two groups got so heated that Kennedy told Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson to “f— off” and denied any wrongdoing.

Despite the objection from the Swedish athletes, curling officials said they couldn’t call the violation because they didn’t see it. Canada won the match 8-6, solidifying their second-place standing ahead of the semi-finals on Feb. 19, according to NBC Sports.

So, what is the curling controversy rocking the 2026 Winter Olympics? Here’s everything to know about why the Canadian team was accused of cheating.

The Swedish team accused Kennedy of “double-touching”

During the Feb. 13 match, the Swedish team accused Kennedy of “double-touching” a stone after it went over the hog line, according to NPR. In curling, players must release the stone before crossing that line, and any contact after that point is considered a violation.

According to the Swedish team, Kennedy released the stone’s handle — which contains electronic sensors — but then poked the heavy granite rock itself, keeping a finger on it as it crossed the line.

“You don’t touch 20kg of granite with your fingertips without feeling it, it’s completely impossible,” Swedish curler Niklas Edin told reporters after the match, according to NPR. “We, in the sport, know how very few grams of pressure can change the speed when it already has a movement forward. You can move some degree of the angle [too].”

Kennedy cursed at an athlete on the Swedish team

Tensions boiled over during the match, with Kennedy directing a profane remark at Eriksson in an exchange that was broadcast live, per NPR. Speaking after the match, the Canadian curler pushed back against the accusation.

“I’ve curled my whole life, never once with the intention of getting an advantage through cheating,” he said after the match. “So when [my integrity] gets attacked, I get my back up and get a little bit aggressive.”

Though he refused to apologize to Eriksson, Kennedy did say that he “could have handled it better.”

Curling officials claimed they didn’t see the alleged violation

Though Kennedy’s alleged double-touch was caught on video, curling officials didn’t call the violation because they said they didn’t witness it, per NPR. World Curling, the organization that oversees the sport, said that it will not use video replays to relitigate calls.

However, they did issue a verbal warning to Canadian curling officials over Kennedy’s profanity.

World Curling instituted a new policy of observing players’ throws, but it only lasted a day

The following day, World Curling announced that “touching the granite of the stone” would result in it being “removed from play” and that officials would be assigned to watch stone deliveries going forward, per NPR. However, the new regulations didn’t last long.

During a women’s curling match on Feb. 14, Canadian curler Rachel Homan had her first rock pulled for double-touching. She told CBC that she didn’t understand the call and said that it had “nothing” to do with her team.

The next day, Great Britain’s Bobby Lammie had a throw disqualified in a match against Germany. That night, World Curling reversed the policy, saying umpires would be available to observe throws upon request from a competing team, per NPR.

Eriksson and Kennedy said the incident went against “the spirit of curling”

The controversy and combative exchange between Eriksson and Kennedy came as a shock to fans, who are accustomed to the sport’s emphasis on respectful conduct. Both athletes agreed that it’s not reflective of curling’s usual culture.

“Curling should be a gentlemen’s sport,” Eriksson told reporters, per NPR. “But perhaps it’s come to a stage of professionalism where we drift away from that as some people think it’s too important to win.”

Kennedy also expressed his disdain for “trying to catch people in the act of an infraction and [doing] anything to win a medal,” and claimed that “the whole spirit of curling is dead.”

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.