Honour system to be used for curling hog-line violations at Beijing Olympics
Technology issue in some stones puts onus on players to call penalties
The honour system will be used for curling hog-line violations at the Beijing Olympics due to issues with the battery compartments in some of the stones.
Sensors that determine if a stone is released in time were disabled Monday afternoon with the removal of batteries from the rock handles.
For the rest of the competition, it will be up to players to call any violations.
"The chief ice technician and the technical delegates have determined that the handles currently in use will remain in place on the stones," the World Curling Federation said in a statement.
"However, the electronic surveillance will be disconnected and manual hog-line judging will be in effect."
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Canadian Hans Wuthrich, the head ice technician at the four-sheet Ice Cube venue, said the batteries simply weren't stable enough in some of the rocks.
The problem was first discovered in the mixed doubles event. Malfunctions have also occurred at times during four-player team competition.
The light should go out when the rock is set down.
"They just weren't activating when you flipped it over," said Canadian skip Jennifer Jones. "So then you're looking at the lights and hoping they go on. Obviously you want the lights to go off.
"You don't want your rock pulled. It's an important thing."
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Per World Curling Federation rules, a stone must be clearly released from the hand before it reaches the hog line at the delivery end. If it isn't, the stone is removed from play.
A green light indicates a throw is legal and a red light indicates a violation. But first, a stone has to be activated.
The malfunctions have forced players to call technical timeouts from the hack. Umpires then walk to the hog line to make sure the rock is released in time.
'Massive distraction' when lights don't work
The process can impact the flow of the game and be an unwelcome interruption for a player trying to concentrate on their shot.
"It's a massive distraction," Jones said. "You lose lots of time because you have to reset and then your clock runs. So you lose time on top of having to go through your whole routine again.
It wasn't immediately clear what was causing the battery stability issue in some stones and not others. In-game contact could be a factor, as well as the lifting and tilting of rocks before delivery.
The battery removal was completed just after the midway point of round-robin competition.
"I'm glad they went this route," said Canadian men's skip Brad Gushue. "They probably should have done it much earlier than what they did.
"But I don't see any issues going forward."
Violations rare at pro level
It's rare to see a hog-line violation at the elite level but it does happen on occasion. A removal of a stone can have a significant impact on play in that end.
"We were told in the team meeting that if you throw it and the lights don't go off, it's a hog-line violation," Jones said. "So you have to make sure that it's working before you throw it.
"But it's not really a normal thing to check to make sure your rock is working."
Before the days of electronic sensors, curling umpires used to sit at the hog line to make sure a stone was released in time.
A player can still request an umpire to watch the line if desired, a WCF spokesman said.
Wuthrich expected the honour system would be a solid alternative.
"They'll be under every camera in the world," Wuthrich said. "If they're going to cheat, they're going to cheat themselves."
