Winter Olympics star says ‘spirit of curling is useless’ as BBC commentator calls for motion
Marc Kennedy has been accused of double tapping his stones at the Winter Olympics, with the Canadian claiming that the ‘spirit of curling is dead’ after the scandal
Marc Kennedy has spoken about the spirit of the game(Image: Mattia Ozbot, Getty Images)
Marc Kennedy has claimed that “the spirit of curling is dead,” after being accused of rule violations at the Winter Olympics.
The Canadian has faced allegations of double tapping his stones on several occasions this week, with Oskar Eriksson provoking a heated exchange when he confronted Kennedy during Canada’s match against Sweden on Friday. Following the Swede’s claim that the 44-year-old had violated the hog line by touching his stone after release, Kennedy rejected the accusation and responded: “I haven’t done it once. You can f*** off,” while defending his position.
Unfazed by the expletive-laden outburst, Eriksson then said: “I’ll show you a video after the game. I’ll show you a video where it’s two metres over the hog line.” Canada eventually secured an 8-6 victory in that encounter, but the accusations against Kennedy persisted.
On Saturday, Switzerland’s Pablo Lachat-Couchepin was observed approaching team coach Glenn Howard, alleging he had witnessed a double tap from Canada during the fifth-end interval. Following his nation’s 9-5 triumph, he said: “Well, everyone talked about it yesterday about the double, potential double touching, and I think, I assume I saw one when the referee was right next to me.
“We received an email, saying, ‘OK, we’re going to monitor it,’ and it’s nothing personally against Canada, because for me personally, it does nothing; they can do whatever they want, it doesn’t change the direction of the stone. But when you have a referee on the ice and the referee is here, and he is looking at it, then he should see it.
“This is what I was a bit annoyed about. I said to the chief umpire, if they send an email they [Canada] just have to follow the rules and follow what is said. It’s nothing personal against Marc Kennedy, he’s a fantastic player, a very fair-play guy and I really admire him.
“I was a fan when I was a kid, it’s nothing against him. It’s just when you receive an email when you have to comply to the rules, then you have to follow it and this is why.”
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While no official committee has found Kennedy guilty of any misconduct on the ice regarding double tapping stones, World Curling did issue him with a warning for his choice of words during his disagreement with Eriksson. Now, the Canadian has voiced his concerns about how the desire to catch opponents out and the pursuit of medals have tarnished the spirit of the sport.
He said: “This whole trying to catch people in the act of an infraction sucks – the whole spirit of curling is dead. We don’t look for infractions at Grand Slams, we don’t look for that kind of stuff on tour, we just trust that the people around us aren’t trying to cheat.
“If somebody does something out of hand, it just gets dealt with in the moment, and you move on. You don’t need the officials to manage our game. That’s where the spirit of curling is in a little bit of trouble, and, honestly, that’s probably come from the quest for medals.”
It follows BBC commentator Steve Cram calling for officials to have words with the Canadian curling squad over their colourful language during Tuesday’s clash against Team GB. Canada were caught on the broadcaster’s microphones swearing amongst themselves, leaving Cram and Logan Gray exasperated.
When one Canadian player was heard exclaiming “every f***ing time* after they secured a point, Cram said: “Excuse me. They have to have a word with these Canadians,” with Gray responding: “Potty mouths.” Canada went on to win 9-5 in their encounter with Team GB.
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