Canada hit back at cheating jibes after Team GB suffer curling heartbreak

Canada’s controversial curlers let rip and hit back at the cheating jibes that have plagued their team en route to a gold medal triumph at the Winter Olympics.

Marc Kennedy had been at the centre of one of the biggest scandals that the sport has ever experienced couldn’t hide his jubilation after playing a lead role in a narrow win against Team GB.

‘It means the world to me to see my teammates with a medal around their neck,’ Kennedy said. ‘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.’

Brad Jacobs’ team defeated Bruce Mouat’s all-Scottish squad 9-6 inside Cortina’s ice arena after a trying two weeks for the sport’s powerhouse.

‘When some things went down this week and people were using some pretty outrageous words like ‘cheating’ associated now with our team,’ Jacobs said, ‘I’ll guarantee you that that only motivated us further.’

Kennedy’s profanity-laced rant got attention far beyond the ice when several players were accused of double-touching the rock, a rules violation.

The sport was sent into turmoil during the round-robin phase when Oskar Eriksson of Sweden accused Kennedy, Canada’s vice skip, of touching the rock again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice. Kennedy responded with an outburst full of expletives.

‘I let my emotions get the best of me,’ Kennedy said. ‘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.’

It’s Canada’s first gold in men’s curling since the 2014 Sochi Games, when they also beat Britain in the final with Jacobs as the skip. This is his first Olympics since — he lost in the Canadian Olympic trials for 2018 and 2022.

‘For anyone who called us cheaters, for anyone who said negative things about Marc Kennedy, about us, about Canada, about our families,’ Jacobs 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.’

Kennedy was also on the Canada team that won gold 16 years ago on home ice in Vancouver.

‘He’s an animal to be able to accomplish all that he has and to still do that today at 44,’ said Tyler Tardi, the team’s alternate who roomed with Kennedy. ‘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.’

Mouat, meanwhile, felt a handful of missed shots in the final two ends proved crucial in what turned out to be a gutwrenching defeat.

Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan were looking to upgrade the silver medal they won four years ago in Beijing after a bumpy ride to the final, which saw their semi-final qualification hinging on the results of other matches on Thursday morning going their way.

While they eventually defeated Switzerland on Thursday evening in their semi-final, their challenge again faltered in the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium, with a 6-5 advantage ahead of the ninth end eventually resulting in a 9-6 defeat.

The penulitmate end proved particularly costly as Britain conceded three points and while they had the hammer in the final end, they could not capitalise, with a double take out from Mouat good but not quite good enough as Canada stole a point to seal victory.

Mouat said: ‘I think we put ourselves in a really good position to win the game. It just came down to a few shots in the ninth and 10th – all of us missed one.

‘We’re disappointed – very disappointed – but we battled so hard all week just to get here.

‘I’m trying to remind myself how much of a fight it was even to win a medal. 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. That’s what I’ll try to hold on to.’

Mouat now has two Olympic silver medals and he is eager to continue his pursuit of gold.

He said: ‘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.

‘We’ll definitely have a debrief. I’d love to play with the guys again, but we haven’t had that conversation as four individuals yet. Personally, I want to continue – and we’ll go from there.’

Hardie admitted he was ‘heartbroken’ after another Olympic near miss, but also pointed to those important missed shots at a key stage.

He said: ‘We lost that final four years ago, it took us a long time to get over it and find the motivation to go again. We found it and we were so hungry to go and deliver a gold this time and unfortunately it just didn’t quite happen.

‘It was really unfortunate timing we delivered a bad end after eight brilliant ends to flip the game and be in the driving seat. That’s going to be a tough one to look back on.

‘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.’

MORE: What is the Canada curling scandal? Cheating allegations rocking Winter Olympics explained

MORE: Austrian bobsleigh star carried off on stretcher after Winter Olympics crash

MORE: Winter Olympics speed skater undergoes surgery after having face slashed by rival’s blade