Tensions flared throughout the males’s curling showdown between Canada and Sweden on the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, culminating in a profanity-filled dispute and dishonest allegations as Canada claimed an 8-6 win.
The Ninth-Finish Confrontation
The drama unfolded within the ninth finish when Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian third Marc Kennedy of touching the stone after releasing it previous the hog line. Kennedy shot again, “I haven’t carried out it as soon as. You possibly can f*** off.”
Eriksson countered, “You haven’t carried out it as soon as? I’ll present you video after the sport. I’ll present you a video the place it’s two metres over the hog line.” Kennedy replied, “I don’t give a s***.”
Curling Guidelines and Official Response
Part 5E of the curling rulebook requires a stone to be clearly launched earlier than reaching the hog line on the supply finish. Failure leads to the stone’s speedy elimination by the delivering crew.
Umpires monitored deliveries on the hog line for the subsequent three ends. World Curling confirmed in a press release that no hog line violations or retouches occurred throughout commentary.
Footage circulating on-line appeared to indicate Kennedy’s index finger making contact with the stone after the hog line.
Put up-Match Reactions
Kennedy dismissed the claims to reporters, stating, “They is perhaps greedy for straws. I don’t like being accused of dishonest, so I advised him what I considered it. It’s good for sport, it will get heated on the market, it’s a battle, we’ve performed one another 1,000,000 instances.”
He highlighted new digital handles on stones that flash crimson if contact persists past the hog line, including, “There’s hog line units on there, and he’s nonetheless accusing us of dishonest. I didn’t prefer it, so I advised him the place to stay it.”
Canada’s lead Ben Hebert famous, “They have been annoyed, so that they have been simply attempting to get in our heads a bit of bit and it didn’t work. We’re 3-0. They’re 0-3.”
Eriksson clarified that Sweden’s crew believed Kennedy touched the stone itself, not the sensor-equipped deal with. “He requested who we thought was over the hog line and I identified who we thought was touching the rock. It was clearly not a crimson gentle, however some gamers are touching the rock in line with us, and that’s not allowed.”
