Great Britain curling team loses in 'gutting' fashion after controversial rules violation

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty

Great Britain's women's curling team was confused by the hog line violation.

• Great Britain's women's curling team lost in an extra end when it was ruled that they made a hog line violation.
• A sensor in the stone went off, suggesting Great Britain's Eve Muirhead did not release the stone before the hog line.
• Replays appeared to show that Muirhead released it before the hog line although it is unclear if she touched the stone again after the initial release.
  
• Muirhead called the ruling "gutting."

The Great Britain women's curling team lost in brutal fashion on Sunday in the Winter Olympics when a controversial call ended their match in extra ends (overtime).

As Great Britain's Eve Muirhead released the stone, a sensor went off on the stone that meant she did not release the stone before the hog line, the point at which the stone must be released.

The violation meant the stone was voided, and it helped Sweden secure an 8-6 win, as they had an easy path to the house without Great Britain's stone.

However, the violation was controversial. There's no official replay in curling, but on video replay during the broadcast, it appeared that Muirhead had let go of the stone before the hog line.

NBC Olympics

Even Muirhead afterward seemed to question the call.

What's unclear, however, is if she touched the stone again after releasing it. The sensor in the stone would have gone off if Muirhead had touched it again, making it a "burned" stone rather than a "hogged " stone. According to the Associated Press, the stone was checked to make sure the sensor was working, but there is no other review process.

Afterward, Muirhead called the loss "gutting."

"It's the story of our week so far," she said. "When something like that happens it makes it very tough to take and it's gutting that it finished that way."

She added: "When you see the replays in the stadium it looks like it was [released early]. It's hard to take and it comes down to inches and millimeters."

Great Britain is now 3-3 in round robins with three more matches to play. The top four advance to the semifinals.