Canadian curler Marc Kennedy accused of cheating on the world’s biggest stage
The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics have come to a close, but not without some drama for Team Canada. Marc Kennedy, a 44-year-old Canadian Olympian, was accused of cheating in the men’s curling tournament, and went viral online for his heated discussion with the accuser, Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson. After ultimately winning gold, Team Canada media responded strongly to the accusations.
Marc Kennedy is a three-time Olympian from Alberta, having won a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. On Feb. 13, Swedish curler Eriksson reported Kennedy twice for pushing the curling stone with his finger after releasing the handle. A new rule has been added recently that touching the granite of the stone is illegal. The stones have sensors that cause the hog line on the ice to flash green when the player releases the handle, signifying a legal curl. Despite the line showing green in Kennedy’s throws, Eriksson and his teammates believed that he poked the stone with his finger after his release, and cited video evidence that the Swedish team filmed. Critics argue that the push would have made little difference in Kennedy’s throw. Others argued that touching the stone after a throw with a broom would cause it to be removed, so the same effect should have occurred for Kennedy’s finger.
On the ice, Kennedy’s live argument with Eriksson went viral due to several expletives, which he got a warning from Olympic officials. In response to Eriksson’s accusatory comment, made within earshot of the Canadian team, Kennedy responded defensively saying: “I haven’t done it once. You can f– off.” The day after the ordeal, Kennedy stated that “I don’t regret defending myself or my teammates in that moment. I just probably regret the language I used.”
In response to Eriksson’s first report, World Curling deployed extra surveillance to watch for cheating, which is unusual as curling is usually self-governed by the players, rather than the umpire. However, the result was that no violations were observed, and World Curling said that video replays were not used to re-umpire any decisions. Team Canada won the match.
A week later, Team Canada went on to win the gold in the men’s curling competition, defeating the world champions from the U.K., Team Mouat.
Yet, the fallout of the interaction remained. In the glory of their win, Canada’s newly championed team had strong things to say. After the exchange, Kennedy commented further, saying “I don’t like being accused of cheating after 25 years on tour and four Olympic Games. So I told [Eriksson] where to stick it. Because we’re the wrong team to do that to.” Team Canada further represented Kennedy’s stand, as his teammates were shown supporting him in their own statements. The Canadian team lead, Ben Hebert, said in an interview with Sportsnet 960 that it’s a “good thing that [Eriksson] is an awesome player” because “nobody really likes him”. Furthermore, after winning gold, Team Canada’s skip Brad Jacobs addressed “anyone who called us cheaters” and said, “I hope that the image of us standing on top of the podium, embracing one another, smiling ear-to-ear with our gold medals, is burned into your brain forever.”
Some critics say Sweden might have entered the match feeling concerned because they had a 0-3 history with Canada in previous matches In the end, neither Team Canada nor Team Sweden faced any disciplinary action. The rule about touching the stone, however, might be facing some more clarifications. In the meantime, Team Canada is back on the ice until March 8 for the 2026 Montana’s Brier in St. John’s, Nfld.