CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The curling world has spent decades trying to find a way to raise its profile beyond the “every four years” curiosity surrounding the Winter Olympics.
As it turns out, all it took was a finger grazing against a 40-pound block of granite for the accusation to be caught on camera, followed by a passionate, expletive-filled response.
advertise
Social media and the white-hot spotlight that only the Olympics can provide did the rest.
Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson competes with Canada’s Marc Kennedy during a match on Saturday night The heated argument between the two — when Erickson accused Kennedy of illegal “double touching” — did in just a few seconds what those in a sport that look like a combination of shuffleboard, chess and cleaning the living room have been unable to do for years: cut through the noise and push it to the front of the line, ahead of the skiers, skaters and snowboarders who typically dominate the conversation at any given moment. The Olympic Games are in full swing.
Alina Paetz watched the evidence unfold in real time. The Swiss, a longtime curler, was scrolling on his phone over the weekend when he came across a headline about the matter in celebrity-centric People magazine, which isn’t exactly considered the go-to for all things curling.
“It’s new,” Paetz said.
advertise
Many are like this.
There’s no such thing as bad publicity
It’s a delicate part of a sport that stretches back centuries and is steadily building a larger fan base. Does it matter that for many, the door into the sport of curling is two people battling each other rather than a beautiful takeaway or dramatic hammer that decides a game?
“I think for curling, publicity is a good thing in order to grow the sport,” said three-time world champion Emma Miskew of Canada, whose captain, Rachel Homan, was charged with the same double-touch violation as Kennedy. “But in this case, it’s just a little bit exaggerated. It’s a little too much.”
advertise
On this point, Michaux is right. The discussion online has been so heated that Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen told The Associated Press there have been some “disgusting” emails directed at Curling Canada’s family members.
“That’s where it stops, right? We put it on the ice,” Thiessen said. “If you want to hate our team, that’s your right as a sports fan.”
However, Thiessen also recognizes the opportunities all this offers. The resistance from self-proclaimed curling experts — many of whom may not have even known the pig line existed until a few days ago — was unacceptable. Curling, meanwhile, has never been such a big part of the Olympic conversation.
“There are both sides of the coin, right?” he said. “You get people who are very upset about breaking the rules reaching out. And then you get people who are reaching out about the drama between the two teams.”
advertise
The second part is not nothing. There are many ways to become a fan. Almost all of them have the same starting point: exposure. This time, the exposure appears to be wrapped in “Olympic catnip.”
The fact that the teams at the Cortina Curling Center compete under the flag of the country they represent means there is an inherent loyalty between them. Throw in a sport whose nuances are largely a mystery, put microphones on athletes to provide intimate glimpses, stake national pride in the form of Olympic medals, and you have all the ingredients needed to get your foot in the door.
“I think there’s value in getting people to watch curling and getting people interested in curling,” said Kristian Heldin Lindstrom, manager of the Swedish women’s Olympic team. “If you start watching it, maybe you’ll keep watching it because it’s a very interesting sport and it has a lot of complexities.”
Look to the future
Nic Sulsky has high hopes. The CEO of the Curling Group won the right to participate in the Curling Grand Slam in 2024 and hopes to create a sustainable professional league.
advertise
The organization noted that spring 2026 would be a possible release date for the project from the date it takes over the majors. The Rock League will be a week-long event in Toronto in April where six teams of 10 curlers (five men and five women) will compete against each other.
Calculus is easy. Sulski, a Montreal native with a background in gambling, knew interest in curling would surge once the Olympics began, as it always does.
The sport’s ubiquity during the Olympics — the competition begins virtually two days before the opening ceremony and will end with the women’s gold medal match just hours before the closing ceremony — plus its relevance as one of the few Winter Olympics sports that don’t present dangers, make it an interesting event.
Sulski thinks April will be a good opportunity to strike while the iron is hot. He just didn’t expect it to be so topical or talked about in such a way.
advertise
“Would we prefer it if the world fell in love with curling because of incredible curling shots? Absolutely,” Sulski told The Associated Press. “But what do fans love most? They love personality, they love stars.”
There’s an authenticity to the exchanges between Erickson and Kennedy that wouldn’t look out of place on a football field or a hockey field.
“It all just allows people to see the competitiveness, emotion and interest of these athletes,” he said.
The truth is, it’s not uncommon for Eriksson and Kennedy to have fights, especially over two touches.
advertise
Rules that prohibit curlers from touching the stone with their fingers after releasing it could be difficult to police. Often an honor system is involved. There are no official video replays available to address this issue, leaving it up to the officials or competitors themselves. It can lead to real moments of chaos, like the one that went viral on Saturday night.
Considering the amount of buzz it caused, maybe Kennedy and Erickson were on to something.
Asked if this means curling could one day borrow a page from professional wrestling and provide competitors with microphones so they can edit promos before and after games to create storylines in an effort to gain a foothold in the public consciousness, Petz laughed.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Who knows what it’s going to be like in five years? I think maybe it’ll stay the way it is now.”
This may be enough.
___
Associated Press writer Julia Frankel contributed to this report.
___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics