Canada’s Jacobs beats China after World Curling changes umpire setup again at Games

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – A wild weekend at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium was capped Sunday with an about-face from World Curling and a return to form for the Canadian team skipped by Brad Jacobs. 

Where to begin? 

A couple F-bombs on Friday night created a viral moment in a tense Sweden-Canada game. The ‘double-touching’ of rocks became a term du jour. Things went sideways Saturday when umpires monitored hog lines more closely and started pulling rocks from play.

A fresh chapter came Sunday night when World Curling reversed course on its new umpire setup. It all left curling fans – and the many new ones around the world after a 48-hour stretch to remember – wondering where things will go from here.

“We always call the Olympics a five-ring circus and you just don’t know what ring you’re going to be in,” said Canadian coach Paul Webster.

Jacobs, Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert put the distractions aside in a solid 6-3 win over China’s Xiaoming Xu to improve to 4-1. 

“”I’ve said there’s opportunity in crises, no matter how small the crisis,” Kennedy said. “There might be a blessing in disguise there.”

Kennedy was at the centre of an argument with Swedish vice Oskar Eriksson that got everything started. Eriksson felt some Canadian players were touching the stones a second time after letting go of the handle on their throws. 

The Canadian vice firmly denied the accusation with some profanity mixed in. Curlers wear microphones and the exchange was shown live on the game broadcast. 

World Curling issued a clarification statement Saturday on its rules regarding stone releases, making it clear players cannot touch the stone’s granite after releasing the handle on top. The organization added that two umpires would be monitoring the hog line areas during games. 

Things came to a head when Canadian women’s skip Rachel Homan had her opening stone pulled without a warning in her game against Switzerland that night.

Homan had an incredulous reaction to the decision, later calling it “absurd.” She went on to lose the game in an extra end to fall to 1-3.

“What happened with her, with the rock, was despicable,” Jacobs said. “That’s the word that comes to mind.”

Great Britain’s Bobby Lammie had a stone removed for the same reason in a 9-4 win over Germany on Sunday morning. 

After a meeting with representatives of the competing teams, World Curling later confirmed the stone monitoring protocol would be changed for the evening draw. The two umpires who had been monitoring hog lines would now do so only by request.

“When you see umpires come out that are not trained to do what they’re doing and all of the sudden are pulling rocks out of games as if they’re burned stones, that’s a disaster,” Jacobs said. “It really is.”

Webster also offered pointed words on the subject.

“We’re not at some bonspiel in Saskatchewan just trying things out,” he said. “We’re at the Olympics. And I have a lot of respect for the people that are here and volunteering their time, but I think we’ve got to really question (it) if we’re doing new things at the Olympic Games. 

“We’ve had four years to prepare.”

Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller topped Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat 6-5 in an extra end to remain unbeaten at 5-0. Canada was next at 4-1 ahead of Mouat and American Daniel Casper at 4-2. 

Joel Retornaz of host Italy and Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell were 3-2 and Germany’s Marc Muskatewitz was 2-3.

“Our teams, all the 20 teams here, have done a really good job preparing for these Olympic Games,” Webster said. “I would like our international federation to match that effort.”

Canada was scheduled to play Lukas Klima on Monday afternoon. Round-robin play continues through Thursday morning and the medal games are set for Friday.

“It is a wild and chaotic ride,” Kennedy said with a smile.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2026.