Despite facing reigning world champions Great Britain, Team Canada ended a 12-year wait to reclaim Olympic gold in curling. It was a tightly contested final, but controversy quickly overshadowed the result. Team Sweden accused the Canadians of a double touch during the match, sparking a dispute that has since escalated. One member of the Canadian team has now responded, calling out their rivals’ allegations.

That player is Brad Jacobs, the skip of Team Canada. The 40-year-old made history as the first men’s skip to win two Olympic titles, adding to his gold from the 2014 Sochi Games. But the controversy clearly struck a nerve, with Jacobs questioning Team Sweden and their decision to raise the issue.

“A-and it’s like, w-what are you guys trying to pull here?” Jacobs said on Film Never Lies. “What are you trying to do? Why are they doing it to begin with, you know? Is it because they didn’t feel like they had a chance to win the Olympics?

“D-did— Was it something that they could try to pull against a top team like our team to, um, you know, try to beat us, get in our heads, a little gamesmanship like you said? It could’ve been that stuff. Um, and so it’s brutal.”

This comes after Team Sweden accused its round-robin opponent, Team Canada, of double-touching. The incident occurred near the end of the ninth when Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian curler Marc Kennedy of double-touching the stones after the hog line.

But the stone has to be released before the hog line, i.e., a drawn-out line; otherwise, it is taken out of play and disqualified. Thus, Sweden’s claim centred on Kennedy touching the stone after letting go of the handle, which is fitted with sensors. That did not go down well with Team Canada, and Kennedy started berating the Swede.

Kennedy was reprimanded for that, but the officials saw nothing wrong with Canada’s gameplay, and the contest continued. Yet even now, Brad Jacobs has found it hard to accept the situation, as he questioned why Sweden would raise such an issue given the two countries’ long-standing ties in the sport.

“What’s brutal about it is they come to Canada all the time,” Jacobs added. “They’ve come to Canada for the last, like, twenty-plus years, these guys. All the best events are in Canada; all the Grand Slams; all the money we play for is in Canada. The biggest sponsors are in Canada. Most of their relevance in who they are as people comes from Canada.

“And what Canada has done for curling, and they’ve come to Canada over all these years. And to kinda come at us, almost like biting the hand that feeds you, is such a bad look.”

But it all eventually worked out for Team Canada, as they ended a long-standing drought, although the 40-year-old believes it was because of what Team Sweden said to them.

Brad Jacobs believes the curling controversy fueled Team Canada

Brad Jacobs and his side eventually beat Sweden (8-6) and finished second on the table, while Sweden finished second-last. Canada went on to win the whole thing, beating Switzerland and Great Britain in the semifinal and final on their way to their first Olympic gold medal in twelve years.

Yet it may not have happened if not for the controversy, as Jacobs believes that it helped fuel his team.

“And you know what?” Jacobs explained. “If anything, all it did was distract them throughout the entire Olympics, and you saw they finished ninth. I think if anything, it, it hurt them, and it helped motivate us to go and win gold.”

This wasn’t the first time Brad Jacobs had taken that stance, having echoed similar sentiments in his post-match press conference. With the win, the 40-year-old joins Anette Norberg as one of only two skips to claim two Olympic gold medals. It’s a rare milestone—and one Jacobs now has the chance to build on at the next Winter Games.