Canadian curling team play victim at Winter Olympics accusing Swedish team of concocting ‘a premeditated plan to try to catch us’

Who ever thought the Winter Olympics would bring so much drama? Turns out winter sports can get quite heated, especially curling, which has seen more attention from the amused public than possibly any other sport this year. The scandal all stems from the Canadian curling team, particularly Marc Kennedy, who was accused of cheating by the Swedish competitors.

The drama unfolded on the national stage when Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Kennedy of double-touching the curling stone. According to Eriksson, Kennedy had touched the granite of the stone after letting go of the handle. Touching the granite is against the rules in any circumstance, but Kennedy swiftly and strongly denied the accusations using plenty of expletives.

However, a video circulating online definitely appears to show the Canadian curler giving the stone an extra little push with his finger before it reaches what’s known as the hog line. Sweden claimed that they had been trying to sound the alarm on Canadian cheating for seven or eight years.

Marc Kennedy responds

Addressing the drama, Kennedy claimed that he was set up in a “premeditated plan to try to catch us.” He accused the Swedish team of coming to the Olympics with a plan to catch others cheating.

Of course, Marc Kennedy was caught cheating, or at the very least, doing exactly what he so adamantly denied doing. It kind of renders his whole argument a little mute as the Swedish team were right. According to the BBC, many Canadians and fans of the sport are disappointed in Kennedy’s attitude during the games, “As Canadians, we aren’t supposed to do these things,” said one Ontario resident.

On X people weren’t really buying the Canadian team’s decision to play victim, “Imagine getting caught red-handed and your only defense is “Why were you looking?” This is peak entitlement.” wrote one disappointed individual.

Despite the negative backlash, Kennedy went on to say that “the whole spirit of curling is dead,” but not because of his rule-breaking, but rather the attitude of his competitors, you know, the ones he swore it in front of millions of viewers.

Does it really matter?

While the world seems to be hung up on the blatant rule break, a few have actually questioned whether it makes much of an impact. Many stated that the light finger touch wouldn’t even make a noticeable difference to the trajectory and speed of the stone. But the rules are the rules and everybody’s got to stick to them. 

When asked about the controversy, curling instructor Ankara Leonard said, “Do I think [Kennedy’s] finger affects the rock? No I do not. Do I think we have to play within the rules? Yes.” which about sums up the whole drama.