Finland women’s hockey team facing dual challenges as Winter Olympics begin

While the Opening Ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics does not take place until Friday, February 6, the Milano Cortina Games have already gotten underway. Preliminary matches in curling took place on Wednesday — with a power outage along the way — and more events are scheduled for Thursday, including the start of the women’s ice hockey tournament.

And one of the medal favorites is facing a pair of challenges in their opening game.

Finland brings one of the most-experienced rosters to the 2026 Winter Olympics, as their team has a combined 187 games of Olympic experience under their collective belts. Michelle Karvinen and Jenni Hiirikoski are back for their fifth games, with Karvinen coming off last year’s World Championship where she set a new national scoring record.

However, not only was Finland dropped into Group A long with perennial favorites Canada and the United States, they open play on Thursday against Canada, the defending gold medalists at the 2022 Winter Games.

And if that was not bad enough, they are dealing with an illness working its way through their locker room.

The team canceled practice on Wednesday due to what is being described as a stomach illness impacting at least four players. Team spokesperson Henna Malmberg told the Associated Pressthat Finland is “reviewing a difficult situation.”

Yle, Finland’s national public broadcaster, reported that four players experienced stomach problems “due to what’s believed to be a norovirus.” Accordingly, those players spent the day isolated in their rooms, according to the Finnish outlet.

“A small number of athletes from the same delegation have reported symptoms of illness,” Games organisers said in a statement to Reuters.

“They are being supported by Milano Cortina 2026 medical teams and, in line with established medical protocols, have been asked to isolate as a precaution while the nature of the illness is assessed.

“At this stage, and based on the information available to medical services, the cases are limited to athletes from a single delegation. No cases have been reported among athletes from other delegations.”

Finland won the bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Games, and has also won bronze at the past two women’s world championships.

Update: According to reports, the game between Finland and Canada has been rescheduled for later this month: