COVID testing issue delays Canada, ROC hockey game; 1st teams to wear masks at the Olympics – NBC Boston

A women’s hockey match between Canada and the Russian Olympic Committee suffered a long delay when COVID-19 test results for Russian players failed to come back at the scheduled start of the game, leading the Canadian team to stay in his locker room instead of taking the ice.

Both teams had warmed up before the game at the rink, but Canada went down the tunnel and didn’t come back. The Russian team eventually returned to their own locker room before both teams returned to the ice approximately 50 minutes into the game.

The International Ice Hockey Federation eventually reached a compromise to have players from both teams wear masks, a first at the Beijing Olympics.

Canada initially refused to leave the locker room as COVID-19 tests conducted earlier in the day by the Russian athletes had not yet been processed.

Striker Oxana Bratisheva said through a team translator that the Russian team was first told the game would be postponed before being told it would be an hour late .

The Russian players were finally allowed to remove their masks at the start of the third period after test results showed no one tested positive.

The Canadians kept their masks on and won 6-1 to improve their record to 3-0 for the tournament.

Canada was concerned about Russian players who had previously tested positive for COVID-19.

Canada have retained striker Emily Clark on precautionary grounds after her test result was inconclusive.