MILAN (AP) — It’s game on for Finland and Switzerland in the women’s hockey tournament at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Saturday after both nations had to deal with a stomach virus affecting players.
Finland started its game against the United States with a full complement of 20 skaters and two goalies, two days after the team's game against Canada had to be postponed.
Finland’s outing is the nation’s tournament opener after Thursday's scheduled game
against Canada was postponed to Feb. 12. The postponement came as a result of Finland having 13 of its 23 players in quarantine because of a norovirus that began affecting the team on Tuesday night.
On Friday, Finland coach Tero Lehtera said his team was going to play the U.S. no matter what following a practice in which only nine players were absent.
Switzerland also announced it was preparing to play Canada, a day after revealing it had one player test positive for the norovirus. Switzerland opened with a 4-3 shootout win over the Czech Republic on Friday.
The entire Swiss team spent Friday night in isolation and skipped the opening ceremony.
“The incubation period has now passed,” Switzerland’s chief medical officer, Hanspeter Betschart, said in a statement. “From a medical perspective, there are currently no concerns about the game taking place, provided no further players show symptoms.”
The team did not reveal which player was affected. Switzerland held a practice skate as scheduled Saturday. Six skaters and two goalies practiced in what the team said was an optional session.
Olympic organizers played down the significance of the virus cases.
“It is not (an outbreak). Let’s not start to make a point about what is currently five athletes being dealt with," Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi said Saturday. “Proper protocols, really well done.”
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said IOC medical director Jane Thornton sees no reason to suspect the cases on the two teams are related.
Germany goalie Sandra Abstreiter said players are very much aware of the virus and taking precautions, including agreeing not to shake hands without gloves on following games. That was evident following Germany's 5-2 win over Japan, when each team formed a line and saluted the crowd without opposing players interacting with each other.
"I think that’s the smart play as of right now. And then obviously we’re disinfecting a lot. We’re not sharing things," Abstreiter said. “It’s obviously in our heads. But we just still have to focus on hockey obviously. And we just have to let our medical team take care of that.”
Germany coach Jeff MacLeod said the team's medical officials have stressed that players should immediately notify them at the first hint of any symptoms.
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AP Sports Writers James Ellingworth and Graham Dunbar contributed to this report.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
