Winter Olympics curling cheating scandal erupts as secret comment caught | Other | Sport
Curling has fallen foul of cheating allegations. (Image: Getty Images)
Curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics has thrust itself into the spotlight following an extraordinary cheating controversy in which the Swedish men’s team accused their Canadian counterparts of “double touching” the stones during each delivery. Sweden emerged victorious 8-6.
“I’ll show you a video after the game,” Swedish player Oskar Eriksson told Canadian curler Marc Kennedy following that exchange, sparking a profanity-filled confrontation that forced a BBC commentator to issue an on-air apology. A fresh viral allegation from a prominent Redditor garnered more than 2.5 million views on X, suggesting the Swedish squad ‘pre-planned’ their Olympic accusation against the Canadians.
They captured a hot microphone moment of the Scandinavian team saying, “It’s fine, Magnus is recording,” amongst themselves.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
Magnus Swartling stands amongst the most accomplished curlers in history. The Swedish Curling Hall of Famer holds a distinguished record, including three gold medals and two silvers at the World Championships.
“That angle was placed (sic) there in coordination with Swedish television,” the Redditor claimed. “It’s usually recorded from the front where you can’t see a touch. This was planned by the Swedish team and television to call out their cheating.”
On Saturday, World Curling deployed additional officials along the hog-line, where stones are released, for later matches.
The Canadian women’s curling team faced another double-touching violation during their narrow 8-7 match against Switzerland, leading men’s captain Brad Jacobs to question whether his country is being singled out.
Curling has been engulfed in controversy. (Image: Getty Images)
“What happened with [Homan on the women’s team] rock was despicable,” he said. “I felt immediately that, as Canadian curlers, we were targeted. To go out and pull her rock like that, I think it was a tragedy.”
Coach Paul Webster expressed similar frustration: “I think we have untrained people doing things that they’ve never done before.
“I have a lot of respect for people who are here volunteering their time, but we’re not at some bonspiel in Saskatchewan just trying things out, we’re at the Olympics.”
Another infraction was called on Sunday, this time against a British curler during a game against Germany. This prompted World Curling to issue a statement clarifying the sport’s rules.
“Following a meeting with representatives of the competing National Olympic Committees, an update in the stone monitoring protocol has been confirmed, beginning with the evening session on Sunday 15 February,” the statement read.
“This change in protocol will see the two umpires who had previously been actively monitoring athlete deliveries remain available in the field of play, but will now only monitor athlete deliveries at the request of the competing teams. The umpires when requested will monitor deliveries for a minimum of three ends.”
This article first appeared on Mirror US.
EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
