Women's Olympic Ice Hockey
2026 Winter
Olympics
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The U.S. women’s hockey team has beaten Czech Republic 5-1 in its opening game at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Alex Carpenter, Joy Dunne, Hayley Scamurra (2x) and Hilary Knight scored for the Americans, while Barbora Jurickova did so for the Czechs.
Share your reaction with us at live@theathletic.com and be sure to follow The Athletic’s Olympics coverage here (click ‘follow’ in the top right-hand corner).
The Milan Cortina Games marks the eighth Winter Olympics to feature women's hockey. You'll notice a pattern looking at the previous results…
(Gold – Silver – Bronze)
The 10 teams are divided into two groups, with each team playing every team in their group once. The groups are purposefully unbalanced, with the five highest-ranked teams — Canada, the United States, the Czech Republic, Finland and Switzerland — all in Group A. Group B consists of Sweden, Japan, Germany, France and Italy.
This structure exists to create more competitive games in group play, given the significant talent gap between the favorites (especially Canada and the United States) and the rest of the field. All teams in Group A advance to the quarterfinals, with their ranking in group play determining their seed. The top three teams in Group B join them; the bottom two are eliminated.
There are no ties in Olympic hockey. Non-medal games proceed to a shootout if no team scores during one period of 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime. Wins in regulation are worth three points; wins in overtime are worth two points and losses in overtime are worth one point.
In their respective groups, teams are ranked by total points, with head-to-head results breaking two-way ties.
Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena
Also known as Fiera Milano, this complex was opened in 2005. Typically used as a trade fair and exhibition complex, parts of it will host ice hockey and speed skating during the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Who are you rooting for at the Olympics? What events are you most excited to see? And which country will take the gold medal in women's hockey?
We’d love to hear your thoughts, opinions and predictions for the Milan Cortina Games.
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Today's women's hockey game between the United States and Czech Republic at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will air on USA Network and stream on Peacock for those in the U.S.
Today's women's hockey game between the United States and Czech Republic at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. CET local time in Milan. That's 10:40 a.m. ET and 7:40 a.m. PT in the U.S.
Hello and welcome along to our live coverage of today's women's hockey game at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics between the United States and Czech Republic.
The opening ceremony of the Games isn't until tomorrow but the hockey action on the ice begins today. The United States is a contender for the gold medal here and has an opportunity to lay down an early marker in this game.
Stay with us as we build up to today's game!
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