Controversy in Olympic Curling Continues

On Sunday, the issues surrounding Olympic curling escalated. For the second consecutive day, Team Great Britain’s men’s team faced the same violation that previously affected the Canadians.

During a round robin match against Germany, Scottish curler Bobby Ramey was deemed to have touched a stone after releasing it. This led to the removal of a stone from Great Britain’s score due to a “double touch,” yet they managed to secure a 9-4 victory.

The trouble began on Friday night when the Swedish men’s team accused Canada of a double touch. Following this, a stone was taken out of Canada’s match against Switzerland. Eyewitness videos circulating online appeared to show Canadian curlers committing fouls, but both teams refuted any claims of wrongdoing.

In response, World Curling announced on Saturday that they would assign two umpires to oversee the four curling games in each round. However, it was highlighted that having an umpire present at every hog line—where stones are released—would be “impossible.”

On Sunday, in a further announcement, World Curling clarified that the umpires would now only monitor player throws at the request of the competing teams. This has raised concerns among players about the impact on the game’s pace.

Johanna Heldin, a substitute on Sweden’s women’s team, expressed her apprehension, mentioning that increased monitoring might disrupt the flow of the game. “If they bring it in, it will probably disrupt the speed of play,” she observed. She hopes the sport can return to its traditional standards of sportsmanship.

On the other hand, American player Tara Peterson voiced her support for enhanced monitoring, stating, “Instant replay can be huge.”

Until this point, the focus had been primarily on the Canadian player, but now British curlers find themselves caught in the controversy as well.