Particle.news

Olympic Curling Dispute Deepens as Britain Caught in Double-Touching Calls and Officials Tweak Monitoring

Officials recalibrated on-ice oversight to balance strict rule enforcement with curling’s self-policing tradition.

Overview

  • British curler Bobby Lammie had a stone removed for an alleged double-touch against Germany, extending the issue beyond Canada.
  • A day earlier, officials removed a stone from Canada skip Rachel Homan in the women’s game versus Switzerland, a call she disputed as video clips circulated online.
  • World Curling first assigned two roaming umpires to observe deliveries, then updated the protocol so umpires now monitor releases only at a team’s request for a minimum of three ends.
  • The federation reiterated that video replays cannot be used to re‑umpire decisions and that it is not feasible to station officials at every hog line.
  • Sweden and Switzerland alleged Canada committed double-touches; officials later observed Canada for three ends without finding violations, though Marc Kennedy received a verbal warning for profanity.