First time in the Olympics, what the hell did you eat... "I can't play like this." Norovirus spread → Team paralysis

*This content was translated by AI.

At the opening of the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, a massive unfavorable factor broke out. The rapid spread of norovirus in the Finnish women's ice hockey team has led to an unprecedented postponement of the match against Canada.

The US media 'Fox News' said on the 5th (Korea Standard Time), "Players of the Finnish women's ice hockey team are suffering from norovirus infection. Therefore, the preliminary match against Canada has been postponed," he reported.

To sum up multiple media, the norovirus outbreak in the Finnish national team began to spread last Tuesday. As a result, it was confirmed that the entire team was paralyzed.

In fact, Finland had only 10 players on the ice during an afternoon practice session before the game. "USA Today" said, "The remaining 13 players out of the total 23 entries are either quarantined or quarantined due to virus infection." Initially, Finland reportedly considered withdrawing from the game due to a lack of available personnel.

"We regret that the games will not be held as scheduled, but this is a responsible and inevitable decision that reflects the spirit of the Olympics and the fairness of the competition," the Olympic Organizing Committee said in an emergency statement.

Finland's coach Terro Letera said in an interview shortly after practice, "Some players are getting better, but they have not recovered enough to play," adding, "It is unfair to ask only 10 healthy players to play full-time."

"We also considered the possibility of affecting the health of Canadian players when we pushed ahead with the game," Letera said. "It is also wrong for individual players to put a player who was sick until yesterday in danger by playing today."

The change in the schedule has also created variables in the group qualification battle. According to USA Today, Finland will gain additional time to recover ahead of the game against the United States. However, both defending champion Canada and Finland, who are bronze medal winners at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, will have to play a reorganized match just before the quarterfinals. Compared to other teams, the break time has been significantly reduced.

Initially, the two teams were guaranteed at least two days off until the quarterfinals began. However, as the game was postponed due to this incident, the physical burden was inevitable. Currently, Group A, which includes Finland and Canada, has strong teams such as the United States, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, so the future of the schedule is expected to have a decisive impact on the direction of the medal table.

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*This content was translated by AI.