CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — No, Sweden has not set up a curling surveillance operation to catch Team Canada cheating at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
(A sentence surely no one has ever written before.)
That’s what Team Sweden media director Lars Markusson told USA TODAY Sports. The Swedes have heard the internet theories that have Reddit and X more invested in curling than ever before. That they planted a television camera, operated by a person named ‘Magnus,’ somewhere in the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. That all of this is hullabaloo was premeditated to sabotage the Canadian competition.
And Team Sweden has one thing to say: ‘It’s not true. None of it.’
The Swedish men’s curling team skipped by Niklas Edin accused Canada’s Marc Kennedy of double-touching stones multiple times without punishment during their round-robin game on Feb. 13, which Sweden won 8-6. Repeated in-match allegations led to a verbal confrontation that has since gone viral.
‘You can (expletive) off!’ Kennedy exploded
“You haven’t done it once?” Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson asked.
“I haven’t done it once’ Kennedy replied. ‘Don’t chirp at me.’
“I can show you video after the game,” Eriksson retorted.
Curlers must let go of stones before they cross the hog line, which is the green line 30 feet down the ice. Touching the handle after that point would result in a violation, according to World Curling Rule R.5 (e), which states: “A stone must be clearly released from the hand before it reaches the hog line at the delivery end. If the player fails to do so, the stone is immediately removed from play by the delivering team.”
Double-touching is when a player releases a curling stone and then contacts it again. Team Canada spokesperson Kyle Jahns told USA TODAY Sports that some double-touching is permitted, and some isn’t. For example, releasing the handle of a stone and touching the handle again before releasing it a second time ahead of the hog line is allowed. But letting go of the handle and touching any other part of the stone afterward (like the granite) is not allowed.
Either way, Jahns emphasized that double-touching is a rule violation akin to traveling in basketball or being offsides in soccer. It does not, he said, rise to the level of cheating.
After Team Canada’s 9-6 loss to Switzerland Feb. 14, Kennedy said the Swedish team “planned right from the word go” to “catch teams in the act at the hog line.” When asked if Kennedy’s comments after the game constituted admittance of cheating or a rule infraction, Jahns said no.
‘Later in the scrum,’ Jahns said in an email, ‘(Kennedy) discussed how if there is a tendency to touch the granite during his release, it is not intentional, and he is not trying to impact the trajectory of the stone after release.’
Markusson of Team Sweden said the footage players referenced came from Swedish State broadcaster SVT, which is in Cortina covering the Games. And no, the SVT photographer is not named Magnus. Markusson said Team Sweden stands by Rasmus Wranå’s and Edin’s remarks denying that the team had anyone in the crowd or Swedish media purposely film Kennedy.
‘The Swedish players has simply pointed out the Canada are double-touching stones,’ Markusson wrote in an emailed statement. ‘This seems to have been confirmed by TV-footage.’
Team Canada was issued a verbal warning over Kennedy’s use of explicit language during the Feb. 13 game. His outburst violated World Curling Rule R.19, which states: “Improper conduct, foul or offensive language, equipment abuse, or willful damage on the part of any team member is prohibited. Any violation may result in suspension of the offending person(s) by the curling organization having jurisdiction.”
The sport’s international governing body issued a statement in response to the allegations Feb. 14 saying ‘two officials will move between all four sheets and observe deliveries.’ World Curling issued another statement Sunday, Feb. 15 about positioning of umpires: ‘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.’
World Curling did not answer the following questions about the Canada-Sweden game, instead referring to the aforementioned statements:
Was World Curling previously aware of complaints or allegations of Canada cheating by double-touching stones?
What happens if Team Canada is accused again of cheating/double-touching stones?
The IOC referred to World Curling when reached for comment.
Canadian women’s curler Rachel Homan was called for double-touching in her first throw of an 8-7 loss to Switzerland.
“They said I touched the stone after I let it go, which is so far from the truth, it’s crazy,’ Homan said after the game. ‘Just making something up, I don’t know. We have the Maple Leaf on our back, I’m not sure.”
Hoping to end the double-touching debacle in Cortina, Team Canada told USA TODAY Sports, ‘Our teams support fair play, respect, and sportsmanship, all core values of the game. We look forward to moving on from this topic and focusing on the athletes’ incredible achievements on the ice.’
Reach USA TODAY Network sports reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.