Isolation: An Olympic Fad

After the Finland-Canada game was delayed on Thursday due to the outbreak of norovirus among the Finnish players, it seemed like the virus could become the story of the women's hockey event at the Milano-Cortina Olympics. Jason and I went over the medical side of the virus yesterday on The Hockey Show, but the one thing we made clear is that norovirus is highly-contagious and easily-communicable among people. As we know in hockey, one never wants to give an opponent momentum, but it seems that the norovirus is going to be a story at these Olympics as we move forward after it was announced that Switerland's women's hockey team was in isolation after one of their players was diagnosed as having the virus.

No one wants to see any games disrupted, delayed, or cancelled for obvious reasons, and Switzerland made the right call in telling its players to stay back at the Olympic village and isolate from others rather than going to and partcipating in the Olympic opening ceremonies. Switzerland defeated Czechia 4-3 in a shootout earlier today, and the Swiss player was diagnosed as having norovirus after the game so we may not be done seeing the norovirus strike again at this event based on what we know medically about the virus.

If there is a silver lining, Switzerland hasn't even considered asking the IIHF and the IOC to reschedule games at this point. If it is just one player, the goal is to prevent anyone else from being infected with the virus so that Switzerland and Canada can meet on Saturday. Finland, whose team was decimated by the virus on Thursday, indicated that they are getting healthier after 13 players were sidelined yesterday. According to reports, "[e]leven skaters and all three goaltenders took part in practice Friday", up from ten skaters.

What should worry organizers is that there may be a chance that Switzerland's participation in the game against Czechia today could have helped the transmission of the virus once again. Normally, the time when a person is most contagious is the few days after feeling better, but hockey is a contact sport where players do come into close quarters with one another. With Czechia having Saturday off after starting the tournament 0-1-1, they should be exercising overcaution in watching for symptoms among their players.

We've seen some great things in the first couple of days of the Olympic women's hockey tournament so far as Italy recorded their first win in Olympic history and France's women's hockey team skated in the Olympics for the first time. All the games have been fairly competitive as the parity on the world stage is starting to show, and we may finally get to see every team play their first 2026 Olympic hockey game tomorrow when Canada meets Switzerland and Finland takes the ice against Team USA. My fingers are crossed for that.

What shouldn't be forgotten, though, is how easily a major event like the Olympics could be derailed due to a microscopic being that wreaks havoc on the human body for a few days. We know from the COVID-19 pandemic how the Olympics caused headaches for athletes and organizers when it came to keeping players healthy for competition, and it might be wise to use those same lessons learned to keep athletes healthy in Milano-Cortina for the next two weeks.

For the Swiss team, it sucks to miss the opening ceremonies. I know how much athletes and coaches look forward to that experience, but I'm pretty sure that every one of those players, coaches, and team staff members would skip the ceremony if going to it cost them a shot at an Olympic medal. After Switzerland opened with a win over Czechia, they're one step closer to possibly bringing home hardware.

We'll see if all Swiss players are available for their game against Canada tomorrow, and we'll keep an eye on how many players are able to dress for Finalnd against the US. My hope is that no one else contracts the virus and is forced to miss games, and that both Switzerland and Finland can rally from this medical setback in their quests for medals. No one expected this kind of adversity!

It sucks to skip out on the fun stuff while being an Olympic athlete, but no one will complain if isolation results in winning a medal.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!