Following controversies involving the double touching of stones in matches on Day 8 of the 2026 Winter Olympics, World Curling has made changes to its umpiring setup for the remainder of the men's and women's round-robin and playoff sessions.
Both Canada's women's curling team and Great Britain's men's club had stones pulled from the sheet during matches when umpires ruled that players had touched the rock after it passed the hog line, after which contact cannot be made again.
On Saturday, Canada skipper Rachel Homan had her first stone pulled in a match against Switzerland. Officials were asked why the call couldn't be reviewed by video, but World Curling rules don't allow for that during a match.
Great Britain's Bobby Lammie had a stone removed during Sunday's match versus Germany for the same reason. He appeared to be shocked by the ruling.
World Curling has made another change in the middle of the Olympics following a meeting with national Olympic committees.
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) February 15, 2026
The two umpires who were actively monitoring the games will not be there anymore.
Only by request by the teams. Here’s the latest communication. pic.twitter.com/eXQDPHfFW5
Apparently, having two such infractions occur in a matter of hours prompted the change from World Curling. Initially, the sport's governing body ruled that two umpires would move between the four sheets being played upon during a match and officials would be "observing the delivery" of throws approaching the hog line closely.
Yet after play on Sunday, the organization changed its protocols and declared that umpires would only monitor deliveries upon a team request. Otherwise, the two umpires would be available during a match but not step in to rule on such a play because it wasn't possible to have an official stationed at each of the four hog lines.
World Curling said the change was decided after meeting "with representatives of the competing National Olympic Committees."
Canada's men's curling team was also involved in a double-touching rule controversy when Marc Kennedy was accused by Sweden's Oskar Eriksson of making contact with his stone after it crossed the hog line. Kennedy made headlines by telling Eriksson to "f*** off," leading to a tense exchange. But an umpire didn't rule on the play and no stone was removed.
Though it likely won't happen during the 2026 Winter Olympics, a possible solution for future competitions may be to allow video reviews of possible contact at the hog line. But there are differing opinions on the matter.
“If they bring that in, I think it probably disrupts the speed of play,” Sweden's Johanna Heldin said to the Associated Press. “We’ve always been a game that tries to play by the rules and have that high sportsmanship level, so hopefully we can figure that back out.”
However, Team USA's Tara and Tabitha Peterson said they would support video reviews, pointing to how so many other sports use them.