Finland and Switzerland are set to face off in the Milan Cortina Games women’s hockey tournament on Saturday despite both teams grappling with a stomach virus affecting their players.
According to a team spokeswoman, Henna Malmberg, Finland will be playing against the U.S. in their tournament opener, following the postponement of their game against Canada due to 13 out of 23 players being in quarantine because of a norovirus outbreak.
Despite uncertainties about player availability, Finland’s coach, Tero Lehtera, expressed determination to proceed with the match against the U.S. after a practice session where only nine players were absent.
On the other hand, Switzerland announced their readiness to play against Canada after one player tested positive for the norovirus. Switzerland had a successful start to the tournament with a 4-3 shootout victory over Czechia.
Following isolation and skipping the opening ceremony, the Swiss team’s chief medical officer, Hanspeter Betschart, assured that the team was medically cleared to compete against Canada as the incubation period had passed.
Maintaining secrecy about the affected player, Switzerland conducted a practice session with six skaters and two goalies participating, emphasizing that the game was on track as long as no additional players displayed symptoms.
Olympic organizers downplayed the significance of the virus cases, with executive director Christophe Dubi emphasizing the proper implementation of protocols. The IOC’s medical director, Jane Thornton, stated that there was no indication of a link between the cases in the two teams.
