 A still image from video referenced by Sweden's Oskar Eriksson allegedly shows Canada's Marc Kennedy touching the delivered rock across the hogline. By: Cameron Sallaj The usual calm and politeness of the roaring game was put on hold following the ninth end of Canada and Sweden's round robin game Friday night at the Olympics as tensions flared between the veteran thirds Kennedy and Eriksson. Throughout the game, Sweden's Oskar Eriksson had been asking the official to watch Canadian third Marc Kennedy's release, believing he was violating the hog line by touching the back of the stone after letting go of the handle. With nothing done by the umpires, Eriksson addressed the issue directly with Kennedy following the ninth end, leading to a heated confrontation between the two. "You can f*** off," was what was overhead from Kennedy upon being accused of touching stones.
"I'll show you video after the game," Eriksson offered up as him and Kennedy went back and forth. This slow-motion capture was posted to X by American curling fan @DustinDHansen:
At the time, Sweden had just scored two points to bring the game within one point after Canada vaulted into the lead with four in the eighth. Video from earlier in the game captured Team Edin's discussion with umpires:
The situation calls into question the rules regarding touched moving stones, which per the rulebook are vague and leave room for interpretation:
Canada went on to score one in the tenth end, winning the game 8-6 and improving their record to 3-0. In a post-game interview, Kennedy responded to the situation, defending his actions.
Swedish skip Niklas Edin also chimed in, mentioning this is not a first infraction of the rules, yet nothing has ever been done about it.
The loss drops the defending Olympic gold medalists to 0-3, pushing them to the bottom of the standings. They will next play China's Xu Xiaoming, another 0-3 team, looking for their first win. Any more losses by the Swedish side could see them eliminated from contention. Meanwhile, Canada continues to fly high as they record their third straight win of the event. They will next play Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller in a battle of the only two undefeated teams remaining with top spot in the group up for grabs. Olympic Men's Standings - Draw 4 Switzerland (Schwaller): 3-0 Canada (Jacobs): 3-0 Germany (Muskatewitz): 2-1 Italy (Retornaz): 2-1 Great Britain (Mouat): 2-1 Norway (Ramsfjell): 2-1 The United States (Casper): 1-2 China (Xu): 0-3 Czechia (Klima): 0-3 Sweden (Edin): 0-3 |
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Brad Gushue (St. John's) won 8-1 over Saskatoon's Rogan Snow at the Curling Stadium Martensville International.
