Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics: Finland boss Kimmo Oikarinen issues 'positive' update after norovirus outbreak postpones Canada match

Canada were due to begin their gold medal defence against Finland in the women's ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina on Thursday, but their scheduled clash has been postponed by a week following an outbreak of illness in the Finland camp. Milano Cortina organisers said the "responsible and necessary" decision was made. The Winter Olympics is live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

An outbreak of norovirus saw the women's ice hockey match between Canada and Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina postponed by a week.

The match was due to take place on Thursday in Italy, pitting reigning champions Canada against Beijing bronze medal winners Finland, in one of the highly anticipated clashes of the opening day of action.

But a statement issued by Milano Cortina organisers said that "following consultations with medical professionals", a decision had been made to postpone the match until next Thursday, February 12 - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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"The International Olympic Committee [IOC], the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation [IIHF], Team Finland and Team Canada confirm that the game between Team Finland and Team Canada in the women’s Olympic ice hockey competition scheduled to take place today has been postponed and will now be played on 12 February at 14:30 at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena," the statement read.

"The decision was taken following consultations with medical professionals after cases of norovirus were identified within Team Finland.

"It was made collectively and in accordance with established health and safety principles, with the health and well-being of players, team staff, officials and all tournament participants as the highest priority.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

"While all stakeholders recognise the disappointment of not playing the game as originally scheduled, this was a responsible and necessary decision that reflects the spirit of the Olympic Games and the integrity of the competition."

Finland's general manager, Kimmo Oikarinen, told TNT Sports that his roster had been affected by "13 players that are isolated or sick", but expects their match against the United States on Saturday to still go ahead.

"The doctor told me a few hours ago that it looks positive at the moment and on Saturday hopefully we have a full roster when we play USA," he said.

Oikarinen added: "The process started yesterday morning when I got information from our team doctor that we had this situation.

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"After that, we started to finalise and analyse how we should go forward on this situation.

"We started to have co-operation with the IIHF, MiCo [Milano Cortina], IOC, and doctors. After many meetings, messages, today we finalised that we were going to postpone the game. It was a one day journey to this point."

Canada have historically enjoyed great success in the women's ice hockey event, winning gold at every Winter Olympics - bar PyeongChang 2018 - since the Salt Lake City Games in 2002.

The USA, who disrupted Canada's dominance to win gold in PyeongChang, will begin their 2026 campaign against Czechia on Thursday.

How to watch the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026

TNT Sports and discovery+ will be the go-to destination in the UK to watch all of Milano Cortina 2026 live, with more than 850 hours of action from every sport, venue and medal event. 

Coverage will be made available to the widest audience ever, with discovery+ customers across all plans - starting at £3.99/month in the UK and €4.99/month in Ireland - able to access comprehensive live coverage with 24/7 coverage available through TNT Sports 2 and a selection of live event feeds.

TNT Sports 2 will serve as the primary Olympic destination, offering more than 200 hours of live event coverage, studio programming, replays and highlights, delivering round-the-clock storytelling from Milano Cortina across all 17 days of competition.  

WBD’s coverage of the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 begins on Wednesday, February 4 ahead of the Opening Ceremony at the iconic San Siro stadium on Friday 6 February, running until the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, February 22.

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