Controversy during the Olympics is not new, but it is certainly rare in the sedate sport of curling.
A “burned rock” foul in the women’s match between Canada and Denmark, would not be swept away very easily Friday.
The controversy began in the fifth end, or period, when a Danish player touched a stone, a foul that is called a burned rock, The Washington Post reported.
Canada had three options when the foul was called: Ignore the foul, remove the stone from play, or rearrange the stones to the position the team believed they would have been if the stone had not been disturbed, the Post reported.
Canadian skip Rachel Homan opted to remove the stone, which is considered the most aggressive action, the Post reported. Canada, which trailed at that point, scored four points to take a 6-4 lead.
Denmark, however, later tied the score and emerged with a 9-8 victory in overtime. After the match, Danish skip Madeleine Dupont said she disagreed with Homan’s decision.
“I wouldn’t have done it, but we’re different that way,” she told the Post. “I’m not going to be mad about it. She can choose to do whatever she wants.”
Homan said she was within her rights and was following the rules.
“There are options, and we’ve burned rocks in the past and they’ve come off,” she told the Post. “Burning a rock is not something that you can do. So obviously, we’ve done it in the past and they just happened to do that then. So it’s just the rules, I guess.”
Credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos
Credit: Dean Mouhtaropoulos
