Olympic Curling Chaos As Sweden Accuses Team Canada Of Cheating During Heated On Ice Confrontation

In a scene rarely, if ever, seen at the Olympics, two curling teams got into a heated altercation during a match at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.

The Canadian team went 2-0 on Friday, but following the ninth end of their match against Sweden, tempers flared at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. Sweden's Oskar Eriksson accused Marc Kennedy of cheating by double-touching what in curling terms is called a "rock," after releasing it.

Eriksson could be heard on the ice saying, "Apparently it's OK touching the rock after the hog line," according to the Toronto Star. 

Unsurprisingly, Kennedy did not take well to those remarks. But video of the incident, slowed down and zoomed in, seems to show that Eriksson had a point.

Sweden's Oskar Eriksson (L) and Sweden's Rasmus Wranaa sweep the ice during the curling men's round robin between Canada and Sweden during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo on February 13, 2026. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images)

Did Team Canada Cheat In Curling?

Kennedy could be heard answering, "Who?" and "I haven't done it once." He then added, "You can f*** off." Eriksson retorted with, "I'll show you video after the game." 

Kennedy shot back at him, saying, "Don't chirp."

Video of the confrontation flew all over social media, and a slowed-down replay seems to show Kennedy's finger hitting the rock just after he releases it.

Canada wound up winning the game 8-6 in the 10th end, keeping them undefeated in the round-robin portion of the event.

World Curling has used new technology in the handles at the 2026 Olympic Games, which is meant to signal to officials if there's double-touching. Eriksson said that this technology would only catch someone touching the handle, not the rock itself, per Reuters. Which is what they believe Kennedy was doing.

"He asked who we thought was over the hog line and I pointed out who we thought was touching the rock," Eriksson said. "It was obviously not a red light, but some players are touching the rock, according to us. And that's not allowed… We told the officials. They came out and they misread the rules, sadly.

"Because they thought double-touching any part of the rock is OK. And then they found out that was wrong. You can only touch the electronic part of the handle."

Kennedy told Reuters after the match that he did not take kindly to being accused of cheating. 

"It's good. It's (a) sport. It's the Olympics. Both teams are trying to win," Kennedy said. "Oskar was accusing us of cheating. I didn't like it. I've been curling professionally for 25 years.

"There's hog line devices on there. I don't know. And he's still accusing us of cheating. I didn't like it. So I told him where to stick it."

World Curling added to Reuters that they added umpires at the hog line to check deliveries after being alerted to it, but found "no hog line violations or retouches of the stone during the observation."

Pretty wild to see that level of disagreement at the Olympics. And in curling, of all sports.