‘A sad day’ – curling cheating row at Winter Games unsettles Canadians42 minutes agoShareSaveAna Faguy,Washington DCandEloise Alanna,MontrealShareSaveWatch: ‘Integrity in sport is important’ – Canadians react to Olympic curling cheating rowA scandal at the Winter Olympics has left the Canadian curling teams on the defensive and Canadians reeling over the crack in their country’s polite persona.Over the weekend, Canadian curler Marc Kennedy had an expletive-filled outburst after Sweden accused him of cheating during a match, and later mentioned his team might be the target of a “premeditated” attack by their rivals.Kennedy was accused of “double-touching” – touching the stone a second time after initially releasing it down the ice. The next day, Canadian women’s captain Rachel Holman was accused of using the same move. Both have denied the accusations, but Canada’s curling teams, who historically have dominated the sport, now face questions over their tactics. While the curlers have shown their anger over the situation during matches, fans of the sport and Canadians have questioned whether the team acted in the spirit of curling.In a country well known for its “niceness”, the cheating row has stung for some. The BBC asked tourists and locals in Montreal what they made of it. “It’s a sad day for Canadian sport,” mentioned Tim Gray, from Alberta. “Integrity in the sport is important, even if you have to call it on yourself.””As Canadians, we aren’t supposed to do these things,” mentioned Samar, from Ontario.Without sportsmanship, mentioned Dwayne from British Columbia, it’s not sport any more.Can Canada teach the rest of us to be nicer?
