It’s hard to believe, but the Winter Olympics officially wrap on Sunday, and I’m simply not ready for the emotional roller coaster to end. From the moments of triumph, like Elana Meyers Taylor’s history-making win, to the devastating lows (sorry, Quad God) — these games have delivered. I haven’t even mentioned the WTF moments (see: Jason Kelce bobsledding) or all the random Olympic content that’s brought me joy, such as Chloe Kim’s love story, this Team USA engagement, or this Olympian’s hilarious quest to find the perfect late-night meal. And while the athletes get plenty of love, I want to give a shout-out to the people behind the scenes, including this camera operator. The speed at which you have to film skeleton is gold medal-worthy. Now, let’s get to the rest of the sports headlines…
— Maria Corpus / Editor / Madison, WI
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Be Quiet, My Show Is On
What’s going on: You probably don’t understand the rules of every Winter Olympic sport — but you don’t need to know the ins and outs of curling to follow the scandal sweeping the Games and the internet. It all started last week when Sweden accused Canada’s Marc Kennedy of cheating during a match by making an illegal move in which the granite stone is tapped after release. Kennedy responded to the accusation in the least Canadian way possible: denying any wrongdoing and adding a very loud “f*ck off” (and yes, there’s video). He’s not letting the allegation slide, and that would be fair if… there wasn’t evidence that appears to show the move in question. The scandal doesn’t stop there. Canadian curler Rachel Homan also got called out for the same thing (which she also denied) during the women’s match. How do you say “yikes” in Italian, eh?
Our take: The drama has, well, rocked the curling world, and it’s led to all kinds of theories, including one claiming the Swedes planted a camera to catch the Canadians’ alleged cheating. But Team Sweden denies this. Wondering where the refs were? There are none. Well, sort of. There are only officials stationed at the end of the rink, and since they didn’t see the alleged move, Canada — and Kennedy — won the match. World Curling, which only issued a “verbal” warning over Kennedy’s language, temporarily assigned officials to observe the matches more closely a day after the incident. But the scandal threatens to shatter the “spirit of curling,” which relies heavily on trust, camaraderie, and sportsmanship. Maybe everyone can borrow a page from the US and Italy’s women’s curling teams, whose recent example of “pure class” proved you can settle things without throwing rocks, or should we say, stones.
