The ‘cheating’ accusations, secret filming, and curling scandal engulfing the Winter Olympics

Great Britain will have to beat Canada, the team at the centre of furious cheating accusations at the Winter Olympics, to keep their hopes of a medal alive on Tuesday SportWinter OlympicsThe ‘cheating’ accusations, secret filming, and curling scandal engulfing the Winter OlympicsGreat Britain will have to beat Canada, the team at the centre of furious cheating accusations at the Winter Olympics, to keep their hopes of a medal alive on Tuesday Jamie Braidwood Monday 16 February 2026 18:03 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverCheating row between Canada and Sweden Olympic curling teams goes viralYour support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreControversy has erupted in the curling at the Winter Olympics, with Great Britain dragged into the explosive fallout following cheating accusations against the Canadian team. On Friday, Canada’s men’s side was accused by Sweden of breaking the rules by repeatedly double-touching the curling stone after release, leading to swear words being exchanged on the ice. After Canada denied the claims, the team’s third, Marc Kennedy, responded by furiously insisting, “I haven’t done it once. You can f*** off”. Footage of Kennedy clearing touching the stone after release went viral. The drama escalated over the weekend when Canada’s women’s team were penalised for the same infringement in the first end of their match against Switzerland, as stunned skip, Rachel Homan, protested her innocence. open image in galleryCanada’s Marc Kennedy furiously denied accusations that he was ‘double touching’ the granite of the stone (AP)Then, amid increased surveillance from the umpires, Team GB’s Bobby Lammie was also flagged for a double touch in the penultimate end of their 9-4 win over Germany on Sunday. World champions Great Britain play Canada, a renowned curling heavyweight, in a crunch match on Tuesday as the round-robin reaches its business end, with this controversy still very much in the spotlight in Cortina. What is a double touch and what are the rules? Following the controversy during the Canada-Sweden match, World Curling issued a reminder to the competing teams, clarifying the rules of “proper release” when delivering the stone. RecommendedCanadian curler insists there is ‘no chance’ they intentionally cheated at Winter OlympicsWhat is the hammer in curling and how does it work? Winter Olympics rules explainedSweden and Canada in furious curling row after cheating allegations: ‘You can f*** off’World Curling said: “When delivering a stone, before the hog line players can retouch the handle as many times as they wish. However, touching the handle after the hog line is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from play. “During forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play. Violation of this rule, will result in the stone being removed from play.” open image in galleryFootage of Kennedy clearing touching the stone after release went viral; after the controversy, World Curling issued a reminder to competing teams, clarifying the rules of ‘proper release’ when delivering the stone (AFP via Getty Images)Canada’s men’s team firmly denied the accusation of cheating, even as the footage of Kennedy touching the stone with a lingering finger on the hog line after release went viral on social media. “If somebody said to you, ‘Hey, do you double-touch all the time?’ I honestly, in that split second of a moment, I couldn’t even tell you if I do or not,” Kennedy said. Per the rules, giving the granite of the stone a deliberate prod after its release to correct its course would be cheating – but the fact you can retouch the handle before the hog line means there is some nuance. Canada’s women’s team said they had been swept up in the accusations, following the heated exchange involving the men’s team on Friday and the online storm it created. Homan said: “I think the word cheating came out of nowhere. It has nothing to do with cheating. There's no chance that Canadians would ever intentionally cheat.”“It obviously was like a heated moment between two players that blew it up. We had nothing to do with that,” said Canada’s second Emma Mi