Canada's Curling Team Responds to Cheating Allegations After Winter Olympics Gold Victory
Canada's controversial curling team has launched a fierce defense against cheating accusations that shadowed their path to gold medal glory at the Winter Olympics. The team's triumph came after a narrow victory over Team GB in Cortina's ice arena, marking Canada's first men's curling gold since the 2014 Sochi Games.
Emotional Victory Amidst Controversy
Marc Kennedy, who found himself at the center of one of curling's biggest recent scandals, expressed overwhelming emotion following the team's performance. "It means the world to me to see my teammates with a medal around their neck," Kennedy stated. "I don't know if people will ever understand what we went through this week as a team—what I put them through this week as a team."
The Canadian squad, led by Brad Jacobs, defeated Bruce Mouat's all-Scottish team 9-6 after what Jacobs described as "a trying two weeks" for the sport's traditional powerhouse. Jacobs directly addressed the cheating allegations that emerged during the competition, stating, "When some things went down this week and people were using some pretty outrageous words like 'cheating' associated now with our team, I'll guarantee you that that only motivated us further."
Controversy Erupts During Round-Robin Phase
The curling world was thrown into turmoil during the round-robin stage when Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Kennedy, Canada's vice skip, of double-touching the rock—a clear rules violation. Kennedy responded with a profanity-laced outburst that drew attention far beyond the ice arena.
Reflecting on the incident, Kennedy admitted, "I let my emotions get the best of me. I stood up for my teammates. I'll never back down from that. We moved on, we moved forward and we did something amazing and a weaker team would have fell flat on their face."
Team GB's Heartbreaking Silver Medal Finish
For Team GB, the defeat represented a gutwrenching repeat of their silver medal performance from four years earlier in Beijing. Bruce Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie, and Hammy McMillan had fought through a challenging path to the final, with their semi-final qualification depending on other match results earlier in the day.
Mouat pinpointed crucial missed shots in the final two ends as decisive factors in the loss. "I think we put ourselves in a really good position to win the game," Mouat said. "It just came down to a few shots in the ninth and 10th—all of us missed one."
The penultimate end proved particularly costly as Britain conceded three points, and despite having the hammer in the final end, they couldn't capitalize. Mouat's double take-out was good but not quite sufficient, allowing Canada to steal a point and seal victory.
Reflections on Achievement and Future Ambitions
Despite the disappointment, Mouat expressed pride in his team's accomplishment. "I'm trying to remind myself how much of a fight it was even to win a medal," he reflected. "I'm incredibly proud to be able to say I'm a two-time Olympic medallist. When I was five, six, seven years old and dreaming of being an Olympian, I'd have been unbelievably proud of this."
Mouat confirmed his intention to continue pursuing Olympic gold, stating, "I'm 100 per cent continuing. I love the game, I love the sport and I love my team-mates. I'm not done yet."
Canadian Celebration and Defiance
Brad Jacobs delivered a defiant message to critics following the victory. "For anyone who called us cheaters, for anyone who said negative things about Marc Kennedy, about us, about Canada, about our families," Jacobs declared, "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."
Kennedy's remarkable career achievement was highlighted by teammate Tyler Tardi, who noted, "He's an animal to be able to accomplish all that he has and to still do that today at 44. He's been one of the best players in the world for, gosh, 20 years. So he just knows everything, knows how to deal with it all, and hats off to him."
Team GB's Mixed Emotions
Grant Hardie admitted to feeling "heartbroken" after another Olympic near-miss but acknowledged the team's significant achievement. "We lost that final four years ago, it took us a long time to get over it and find the motivation to go again," Hardie said. "We found it and we were so hungry to go and deliver a gold this time and unfortunately it just didn't quite happen."
Hardie added, "I've loved this nine-year journey with these boys. We'll go and have a drink tonight and celebrate another Olympic medal, which we're very proud of. The future's not on my mind at the moment."
The victory represents a significant milestone for Canadian curling, returning the nation to the top of the Olympic podium in the sport after a twelve-year gap, while Team GB continues its pursuit of that elusive gold medal in men's curling.
