Rachel Homan of Team Canada reportedly said there was a "zero-percent chance" she committed the violation
AP Photo/Fatima Shbair
NEED TO KNOW
- The Canadian women’s curling team was accused of committing the same violation that sparked a cheating controversy for their men’s team
- Team Canada was called for “double-touching” in their match against Switzerland on Feb. 14, which the Swiss ultimately won 8-7
- The athlete accused of the violation reportedly said, “Like, absolutely not. Zero-percent chance,” after the call, according to The Washington Post and Fox News
Olympic controversy continues for Team Canada.
The Canadian women's curling team was accused of the committing the same violation that men of Team Canada were accused of doing by Team Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which sparked a cheating scandal.
Rachel Homan of Team Canada was called for "double-touching," which is when the athlete touches the curling stone after releasing it, in their match against Team Switzerland on Saturday, Feb. 14 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
After the violation was called by officials, Homan, 36, denied that she committed the foul, per The Washington Post and Fox News. "Like, absolutely not. Zero-percent chance," Homan said.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
When Homan's teammates questioned officials on why the call wasn't eligible for review, they were reportedly told to trust the umpire, per the Post. The team could also reportedly be heard using expletives in their group huddle before the match started up again.
Reviews of game play are not done via video in World Curling, according to Fox News.
The Swiss women's team ultimately defeated Canada 8-7 on Saturday at the Cortina Curling Center.
According to the Post, Homan told reporters after the loss that she felt like the men's team's controversy added unfair scrutiny onto her team, saying, “I don’t understand the call. I’ll never understand it. We’ve never done that. It has nothing to do with us.”
Canada's men's team was accused of double-touching after their 8-6 loss to Sweden on Feb. 13, with Swedish player Oskar Eriksson alleging that Canadian curler Marc Kennedy had touched the stone again after his releases.
Kennedy, 44, furiously denied the allegation of cheating and the two athletes broke out into an intense shouting match on the ice.
“Apparently, it’s alright touching the rock after the hogline,” Erikkson said to Kennedy, after complaining to officials, per the Metro.
Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty
Kennedy insisted, “I haven’t done it once,” and told Eriksson he "can f–k off.” Eriksson then said, “…Okay, I’ll show you a video after the game.”
“How about you walking around my peel and dancing around the house? How about that? C’mon Oskar, just f–k off,” repeated Kennedy. “…I don’t give a s–t. They were standing here and didn’t call it.”
However, World Curling communications chief Chris Hamilton confirmed in a statement obtained by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that no violations were committed during the match.
“The issue of second touches of the stone, specifically the granite, during the delivery was brought to the umpire’s attention,” the statement read. “Officials spoke with both teams and set game umpires at the hogline to monitor deliveries for three ends, which is the official protocol following this type of complaint. There were no hogline violations or retouches of the stone during the observation period.”
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