sports

Double‑Touch Rule Sparks Chaos at Olympic Curling

During the Milano Cortina Olympics, a controversy over a double‑touch release by Canadian third Marc Kennedy sparked a heated exchange with Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson, prompting World Curling to add extra umpires to monitor the hog line. The new rule saw Canada’s Rachel Homan and Great Britain’s Bobby Lammie have stones removed from play.

In a tense moment on Friday, Sweden’s third Oskar Eriksson accused Canada’s Marc Kennedy of double‑touching the rock past the hog line during a Canada‑Sweden match. Officials saw no violation, but the dispute escalated into a heated exchange at the ninth‑end break.

World Curling responded by deploying two umpires to monitor all four sheets for hog‑line releases for the rest of the Games. The new scrutiny led to the removal of a stone from Canada’s Rachel Homan in the first end and from Great Britain’s Bobby Lammie in the ninth end, a first for both teams.