Tension boiled over onto the ice during the men’s curling final between Canada and Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The controversy arose after Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson raised the question whether Canada’s Marc Kennedy had cheated by touching the stone after he had released it. The reaction to this accusation included heated words and visible frustration from Kennedy’s side, which has now received a firm warning from the officials.

CBC Olympics and Paralympics reporter, Devin Heroux reported on 14 February that World Curling issued a verbal warning against Marc Kennedy for inappropriate behaviour at the Winter Olympics.

The statement read, “Following the Friday evening session, World Curling spoke with the Canadian officials to issue a verbal warning regarding the language used by a Canadian men’s player during the game.

“During that meeting, it was made clear to those officials that further inappropriate behaviour, determined by rule R.19, would result in additional sanctions.”

Rule R.19 states: “Improper conduct, foul or offensive language, equipment abuse, or wilful damage on the part of any team member is prohibited. Any violation may result in suspension of the offending person(s) by the curling organisation having jurisdiction.”

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The dispute first began on 13 February during the round robin meeting between Canada and Sweden at the Winter Olympics. Eriksson believed Kennedy’s finger may have touched the stone again after release.

Reportedly, Kennedy reacted with a, “You can f— off,” firmly rejecting any suggestion of cheating.

On ice, officials did not signal a violation at the time, and play continued in Canada’s 8 to 6 win at the Winter Olympics. But Kennedy reacted strongly to the accusation.

“I haven’t done it once. Don’t chirp at me,” Kennedy said as reported by the Athletic, when Eriksson asked him if he did it once.

Eriksson then responded, saying, “I’ll show you a video after the game.”

According to curling rules, once a player releases the stone and it crosses the hog line, they are not allowed to touch it again. Even though the curling stones at the Winter Olympics are fitted with electronic handles that light up if contact continues beyond the line. Given this, Kennedy wasn’t happy that accusations were still coming his way.

“There’s hog line devices on there. I don’t know. And he’s still accusing us of cheating. I didn’t like it,” he said.

However, as per World Curling’s final decision on the incident, there were no hogline violations or retouches of the stone during the observation period, which started after issues of second touches of the stone were brought up before the umpires.

Still, moments like this show how curling’s strict rules on stone contact can stir debate. Well, there was another incident at the curling event at the Olympics this year.

Athletes and judges once again collide in Winter Olympics Curling

Another piece of news comes in that can be added to the Canadian curling team’s sudden drama at the Winter Olympics. Now, Rachel Homan has been called out for double touch too.

Homan, the female Canadian skip delivered her first rock in the first end against Switzerland. Only for her to be suddenly pulled of by an off-ice official. The official believed Homan had double touched the rock after releasing it.

“I’ve never done it in my life,” Homan replied.

This comes after the officials had been tasked by World Curling to watch hog lines more closely after the clash between Kennedy and Eriksson at the Milan Winter Olympics. What do you think will be the result in this case?