Major Reversal: After breaking their silence and presenting what they call definitive proof of innocence, the Canadian curling athletes are now seeing critics in the U.S. walk back the cheating claims

CANADA’S men’s curling team had the last laugh after a Winter Olympics packed with drama.

After being labeled “cheats” and thrust into the center of a furious double-touching argument, Marc Kennedy and his teammates hit back in the best possible way – beating Team GB to win gold.

And they made sure their critics heard about it.

The tournament descended into chaos during the round-robin stage when Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canada vice-skip Kennedy of touching the stone twice after releasing it down the ice.

Kennedy responded with a furious, expletive-filled outburst as tensions boiled over.

But the Canadians regrouped and powered their way to Olympic glory.

An emotional Kennedy said, “It means the world to me to see my teammates with a medal around their neck.

“I don’t know if people will ever understand what we went through this week as a team, what I put them through as a team.

“I let my emotions get the best of me. I stood up for my teammates. I’ll never back down from that.

“We moved on, we moved forward, and we did something amazing, and a weaker team would have fallen flat on their face.”

Skip Brad Jacobs was even more defiant as he aimed at those who questioned Canada’s integrity.

He blasted, “For anyone who called us cheaters, for anyone who said negative things about Marc Kennedy, about us, about Canada, about our families, I hope the image of us standing on top of the podium, smiling ear to ear with our gold medals, is burned into your brain forever.

“When people were using outrageous words like ‘cheating’ about our team, I guarantee you that only motivated us further.”

The controversy did not end there. Further accusations of double-touching followed, and Canada even slipped to defeat against Switzerland before steadying themselves for a stunning run to gold.

Curling chiefs initially stationed umpires at the hog line to monitor potential fouls before reverting back to the sport’s traditional system of players policing themselves.

Jacobs added, “It was a little bit of a mess. It’s a brand new rule that needs a deep dive. Hopefully we as players can help make sure this kind of nonsense doesn’t happen again.”

The triumph marks Canada’s first men’s curling gold since Sochi 2014 — when they also beat Britain in the final, with Jacobs as skip.

It is also Jacobs’ first Olympics since that victory, having failed to come through the Canadian trials for the 2018 and 2022 Games.

From public enemy No. 1 to Olympic champions — Canada made sure the final word was theirs.