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The Canadian men’s curling team completed a successful 2-0 run at the 2026 Winter Olympics with a narrow win over Sweden.
But before being crowned the winner in Cortina d’Ampezzo, there was tension between the two teams.
After the ninth end, Canada and Sweden engaged in a heated exchange of blows on the ice at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. The incident was sparked by Sweden’s Oscar Ericsson claiming that Canada’s Mark Kennedy had touched his rock twice after leaving it before the hog line.
According to the Toronto Star, Erickson said while cleaning the house, “Apparently it’s OK to touch the rock after the hog line.” According to the star, Erickson’s comments were immediately met with “Who?” Answered by the responses of. “I Haven’t Done It Even Once” and “Don’t Tweet” by Kennedy.
Canada capped their 8–6 win over Sweden with a point in the 10th end, moving them to 3–0 in the round-robin standings.
According to Reuters, the Swedes’ issue was that they felt Kennedy and Canada were making contact with the stone beyond the Hogg Line, which is the line on the ice sheet where curlers must release the curling stone during delivery.
World Curling has introduced electronic handles on the stones at the 2026 Winter Olympics, a technology piece that will tell officials if double-touching has occurred with a stone. Ericsson noted that the Swedes thought Kennedy was touching the stone, not the censored handle, which would not turn off the red light.
“He asked who we thought was across the hog line and I told who we thought was touching the rock,” Erickson said. “It obviously wasn’t a red light, but according to us, some players are touching the rock. And that’s not allowed. … We told the officials. They came out and they misread the rules, sadly.
“Because they thought it was OK to touch any part of the rock twice. And then they found out it was wrong. You can only touch the electronic part of the handle.”
When asked about the incident after the match, Kennedy said he did not like the accusation of cheating.
According to Reuters, Kennedy said after the match, “It’s good. It’s a game. It’s the Olympics. Both teams are trying to win.” “The Oscars were accusing us of cheating. I didn’t like it. I’ve been curling professionally for 25 years.”
He later said: “There are hog line devices in there. I don’t know. And he’s still accusing us of fraud. I didn’t like it. So I told him where to stick it.”
In a statement to Reuters, World Curling said umpires were deployed to the hog line to monitor deliveries in three ends after the issue was first raised during play, but “there were no violations of the hog line or re-touching of the stone during the observations.”
Both teams will return to action on Saturday, February 14 for one game each. Canada will take on Switzerland at 8:05 a.m. ET, while Sweden will take on China at the same time.
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