CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – Canada’s Brad Jacobs defeated China’s Xiaoming Xu 6-3 on Sunday in the first session with World Curling’s readjusted umpire setup in effect after a contentious weekend at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
In a statement issued at the start of evening play, the sport’s governing body said the two umpires who had previously been monitoring athlete deliveries at the hog line will now only do so “at the request of competing teams.”
The development came after Canadian women’s skip Rachel Homan had her first rock pulled in a game against Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni on Saturday night. Canada went on to drop an 8-7 decision in an extra end.
-
![]()
‘You have to be confident’: Canada’s Grondin speaks silver medal win in Men’s Snowboard Cross -
![]()
Canadian skier Kingsbury ‘very happy’ with silver medal win in Olympic Men’s Moguls -
![]()
Canada wins silver in short-track speedskating mixed team relay -
![]()
Winter Olympics 2026: Canada’s Megan Oldham wins bronze in women’s freeski slopestyle -
![]()
Team USA Olympians, protesters speak out against ICE presence in Milan -
![]()
What to expect from the Milano-Cortina Olympics -
![]()
Canadian Olympic snowboarder, medal hopeful Mark McMorris suffers ‘heavy crash’ in training -
![]()
Mikaël Kingsbury, Marielle Thompson named Canada’s flag-bearers for Milano-Cortina Olympics -
![]()
Milan Olympics: U.S. ICE agents’ presence sparks uproar in Italy -
![]()
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir look ahead to Milano Cortina 2026
The umpire felt Homan had “double-touched” the rock on her throw. Curlers are not allowed to touch the stone’s granite after letting go of the handle.
Get daily National news
Homan vehemently denied making an improper throw.
Great Britain’s Bobby Lammie had a stone removed for the same reason in a 9-4 win over Germany on Sunday morning.
On Saturday, World Curling said it would designate two officials to move between the four sheets but noted it was “not possible” to have umpires stationed at each hog line.
That change came after a tense men’s game between Canada’s Jacobs and Sweden’s Niklas Edin on Friday.
Swedish vice Oskar Eriksson complained that some Canadian players were ‘double-touching’ the rocks, an accusation that Canada vice Marc Kennedy firmly denied. Kennedy used profanity during the on-ice exchange, and the video clip went viral.
The latest umpire development came after a meeting with representatives of the competing teams, World Curling said.
“This change in protocol will see the two umpires who had previously been actively monitoring athlete deliveries remain available in the field of play, but will now only monitor athlete deliveries at the request of the competing teams,” the statement said.
“The umpires, when requested, will monitor deliveries for a minimum of three ends.”
Jacobs, Kennedy and teammates Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert took a 4-2 lead with a deuce in the sixth end. Canada stole a pair in the eighth, and China conceded after a single in the ninth.
Canada (4-1) was scheduled to play Lukas Klima on Monday afternoon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2026.
Canada is cheating because they’re having a cr ap Olympics. Only one gold medal so far. Pathetic.