Winter Olympics 2026: Canada's Marc Kennedy says 'The whole spirit of curling is dead' after controversial double touch backlash at Milano Cortina
Published 18/02/2026 at 09:06 GMT
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Canada's Marc Kennedy has said "the whole spirit of curling is dead" after the reaction to Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accusing him of double touching the stone, which saw backlash from around the world and even saw extra officials introduced at the hog line. Kennedy added that "trying to catch people in an infraction sucks" and blamed the pursuit of Olympic medals for the increased scrutiny.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Canadian curler Mark Kennedy has said "the whole spirit of curling is dead" after the global backlash and reaction to accusations that he double touched the stone at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Kennedy was accused by Swedish opponent Oskar Eriksson of poking the stone with his finger after releasing it, something you are not allowed to do.
It prompted a strong reaction from Kennedy, who asked Eriksson who he was accusing before denying it and telling the Swede to f*** off, in what is now a viral clip.
With the eyes of the world watching the subsequent matches, at least partially as a result of that heated exchange, two extra officials were installed at the hog line to ensure double touching could not happen and that there would be no further controversy.
That was poorly received by those competing and the hog line officials were subsequently removed, with the officials putting their faith back in the players.
Trust is one of the unwritten rules of the sport, which can often be seen when the measuring device available to confirm whether a stone is in a point-scoring position is not used. Instead, both sides can just agree that one is closer and move on to the next end.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
So Kennedy suggested that the sole role of the extra officials is "trying to catch people out", and has led to him questioning the integrity of the sport.
He said: "This whole trying to catch people in the act of an infraction sucks - the whole spirit of curling is dead.
"We don’t look for infractions at Grand Slams, we don’t look for that kind of stuff on tour, we just trust that the people around us aren’t trying to cheat.
"If somebody does something out of hand, it just gets dealt with in the moment, and you move on, you don’t need the officials to manage our game.
"That’s where the spirit of curling is in a little bit of trouble, and, honestly, that’s probably come from the quest for medals."
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Incredibly, at these Games, the initial accusation from Eriksson was only the first of three similar incidents, which included the Canadian women's skip Rachel Homan having a stone removed for double touching by an official.
Team GB's men even became embroiled in a scandal, when Bobby Lammie was penalised by officials for double touching a stone with a finger against Germany.
This checking of double touching has seen the Canadian men's coach, Paul Webster, weigh in, questioning why you would change the way the game is officiated in the heart of an Olympic Games.
He said: "We’re not at some bonspiel in Saskatchewan, we’re at the Olympics.
"We have untrained people doing things they’ve never done before.
"I have a lot of respect for people who are here and volunteering their time, but I think we really have to question if we’re doing new things at the Olympic Games."
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Watch the moment Team GB get caught up in new curling foul controversy
Video credit: TNT Sports
They say that all publicity is good publicity, and it cannot be denied that the Olympic curling controversy has brought more eyes to the sport than ever before.
Off the back of what may be considered a low point for the sport, there will now be a new global competition, beginning in April called 'The Rock League'.
It is the opinion of the Canada men's skip Brad Jacobs that the big scandal has actually been a good thing, with the hope that the new watchers of curling can become lifelong fans.
He said: "There’s been a lot of talk about the negativity of everything that’s going on, but when you actually look at everything that’s gone on, and you consider how many eyeballs turned to curling over the last 72 hours, it’s probably the best thing ever for our sport.
"What does the world feed off nowadays? Negativity.
"But that’s OK. Like I said, all of that negativity brought a lot of eyeballs to the sport of curling that maybe have never even considered looking at it before."
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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